


How Come We’ve Never Really Heard You Talk About Your Parents?

by Angel_Dawn_Nimbus



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Meet the Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 60,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22188769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Dawn_Nimbus/pseuds/Angel_Dawn_Nimbus
Summary: Why had the 118 never heard anything about Buck and Maddie’s parents?
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 31
Kudos: 352





	1. Maybe You Should Meet My Parents...

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try something new with this story. The fandom has this headcanon where Buck and Maddie had either abusive or neglectful parents. I wanted to try something a bit different where they have a perfectly happy family just a little different, they just don’t get to see their family as often. Buck never actually told them about the Firetruck incident or the tsunami or the embolism as he knew they’d want him to come home to Pennsylvania to heal, so he kept them in the dark. 
> 
> This is what came out. 
> 
> The whole story is written it ended up being just over 50k words. My word goal was only 25k. The story ended up getting away from me.
> 
> I’ll just be doing last-minute edits before uploading. The updates should be regular.

The 118 team were lounging up in the loft. They had just gotten back from a call and they were trying to get as much downtime in as they could before they were inevitably called out again.

Buck and Eddie were curled up on the sofa on opposite ends. They seemed to be trying to have a nap while they could. Bobby was in the kitchen trying to make lunch for the team before they’d inevitably get called out again. Chimney and Hen were sitting at the dining room table watching Buck try to get comfortable with his long legs curled up to give Eddie some room on the couch.

“Hey, Buck. How come we’ve never really heard you talk about your parents much before? Maddie hasn’t really talked about them, something I’ve noticed about you both." 

Buck groaned. He just wanted a nap. Buck’s eyes opened, and he looked over at Chimney. Chimney was right. He hadn’t really talked about his family outside of Maddie.

“Have you ever thought of asking her about our parents?"

“Uh no, not really." Chimney looked sheepishly at Buck.

“Maybe there’s your answer. We didn’t think anyone would be interested as no one had asked us about our home life before. Before you jump to conclusions about what our home life was like. We have a normal family. I guess. We just don’t see each other that often."

“Hey Buck? What is your family like?" Hen asked the question Chimney had been skirting around.

She nudged him rolling her eyes. She dragged Chimney to the couch in front of the television, to make the most of their downtime.

“Our parents are divorced. My Dad Elijah is a Paediatrician which is the reason we didn’t get to see him as often as we liked. He tried to come to as many of mine and Maddie’s school events before she graduated then he went to as many of mine as he could. He is now thinking of retiring. He lives in Chicago with his second wife Caroline. They moved there after I graduated high school. My Mom, Evelyn still lives in Pennsylvania. She is a retired Elementary School Teacher. She lives with her second husband Noah. We don’t get to see each other often, but we talk on the phone once a month,”

Buck started talking about his and Maddie’s parents. There was a lot of information to get through.

“Our parents have been trying to get Maddie and I back home to come and visit soon since it has been quite a while. Truthfully we haven’t exactly tried to make the trip out there. We have just been way too busy and truthfully it is easy enough to forget how long it has been. We all drive each other crazy if we spend too much time together. They’ve always been a little overprotective, Maddie getting married at a young age then not contacting them. Then me travelling around for most of my early twenties. Not being in contact with them as often as they’d like. They worry; I try not to tell them about the burning buildings we run into, along with the other dangerous things we have to do on a daily basis. I tend to just tell them about the more tame jobs. If it ever comes out about me being crushed by the Firetruck, the Embolism or the Tsunami."

Buck trailed off. He didn’t really know how to tell his parents about what is now known as the Famous Buckley Luck.

“Since I haven’t actually told them about it yet after all this time..."

Buck trailed off softly.

“I wondered why your parents never showed up." Bobby muttered from the kitchen.

The team looked to be listening, while they were each doing separate activities. Hen and Chimney had turned on the console and were playing a game, while Bobby had gotten around to cooking.

Eddie was resting, he just had his eyes closed. He wasn’t actually asleep. He was listening to the surrounding conversation. Eddie already knew about Buck’s family. He had even spoken to them a few times in the past. Luckily he had never slipped up about Buck’s incidents.

Buck had such seemingly normal parents. They never really knew what to expect when it came to Buck. They would find out new things about him all the time. Like they were slowly peeling back his layers.

He had never really spoken of his parents; he just made the odd comment. Which made everyone assume that he and Maddie didn’t have a great upbringing. They had been wrong about that.

Buck had never thought to bring them up, he didn’t think they would be interested in hearing about his family. They were just like any other family, well except for them being a divorced family that still got along with each other even though they were divorced.

“I need to finally introduce you and Chris to my parents, don’t I? They have been hounding us for a while. I guess it is time to finally make the trip back."

Buck nudged Eddie’s leg with his foot. They had been dating for six months at this point. It had taken them a long time to get here. With the lawsuit, they had hit a rough patch and had taken them some time to get back to normal.

Then one day Buck and Eddie were hanging out having a guy’s night when Eddie had decided it was time, he made a move and asked Buck on a proper date. A date that wasn’t a guy’s night that comprised them having pizza and beer. Something that couldn’t be taken as anything other than a romantic evening between two potential lovers.

Buck had definitely been startled. He had been taking a drink when Eddie had asked. He ended up inhaling the liquid, which led to him coughing and spluttering. He wasn’t expecting Eddie to be the one to get up the nerve to make the first move. It didn’t take him long to process what Eddie was asking. He accepted enthusiastically. After he could breathe again that is. He had been wanting it for a long time.

He hadn’t known if he should be the brave one to make the move, or if he should just wait for Eddie to go for it. Buck hadn’t been too far off asking. He had been getting impatient. He was finally ready to try something with Eddie. He hoped he hadn’t been reading the signals wrong. Turns out, Eddie had just beaten him to it.

Buck had told Eddie that if they were to do this, he never wanted to lose the two of them from his life. Christopher would always have to come first. Buck would be devastated and wouldn’t know how to move on if he ever lost Christopher. It had devastated him when they were separated during the Tsunami and that was only for a few hours. Who knew how he would react if they were both completely gone from his life. Buck would be heartbroken if he ever lost Eddie from his life. He had for a while during the lawsuit. Back then he barely knew what to do with himself.

They had to work on their communication skills. They had to talk about any issues before they were to fester. Buck didn’t want to go back to how it was during and the few weeks after the lawsuit.

Christopher had been ecstatic when they had told him. Nothing had really changed all that much after they had started dating. The only thing to really change was the physical aspect of their relationship, and even then, they had slipped into that part of their relationship effortlessly. They already worked well together, this was a whole other aspect where they worked seamlessly together. 

Bobby had made them fill in HR forms disclosing their relationship when he found out.

“If Bobby can organise the time off for the three of us. It would have to be over Spring Break so Christopher can come along."

“If anything. I’d be taking Christopher with me and you’d be staying behind." Buck joked. Eddie rolled his eyes at Buck’s antics. Eddie knew Buck was joking. It warmed his heart that Buck constantly included Christopher in a lot of the dates they went on. They definitely had dates with just the two of them, it was refreshing not having to do child-friendly activities every once in a while.

They definitely needed that one-on-one time together.

“I’ll call Maddie and see what she thinks. Spring break isn’t for another month, so we have time to plan."

Buck pulled out his phone and dialled his sister, hopefully, he wouldn’t catch her at a bad time.

“Buck? Why are you calling me? Aren’t you working?" Buck put the phone on speaker and held the phone so the others could hear.

“Hey Mads. Remember how often Mom and Dad nag us about coming back home to Pennsylvania and Chicago to visit each of them? How about we finally drag ourselves out to Pennsylvania and get Dad and Caroline to also make the trip out? Then also bring Chimney, Eddie and Chris so they finally properly meet them and get off our backs about everything. Kill two birds and all that."

Everyone tried to make it look like they were not to listening to the conversation, but Buck knew they were all curious about Buck and Maddie’s family situation.

“It has been awhile since we made the trip out there…" Maddie trailed off.

“Maddie it has been just over two years. How did we not know it had been that long?"

Buck saw Eddie mouth the words ‘Two years.’ Eddie hadn’t realized it had been that long since Buck and Maddie had made the time to see their parents. Eddie didn’t think he had left seeing his parents for that long. When he was out on his tours were the longest gaps, he had not seeing his parents and the rest of his family. 

Getting the time off was a lot harder for Maddie and Buck, they had differing schedules that made it harder to work around. Getting more than a day off in a row was harder to manage, not including their scheduled days off. Being thousands of miles away from their parents made it a lot more complicated. They each needed to take at least a few days off to make traveling all that way worth the expense.

With Maddie, she had missed out on so much with her family after Doug made her cut off all contact with them for three years. Before that there were large gaps in between visits. Buck was always suspicious about the length of time in between visits. Maddie would still talk to them over the phone, but she always made excuses about visiting.

For a long time before that, Doug made her keep up appearances of having a happy marriage. They were happy for a long time. Then one day everything had changed. Doug never apologised to, he always made it seem like his actions were her fault. After a while she began to believe him.

In the end Doug couldn’t handle going back to see the Buckley family after he had almost slipped up.

He didn’t want them finding out; he wanted them to think they were happy together. They had already been wary when they had married young, he didn’t want them on his back even more. Buck already disliked him and only pretended to tolerate him for Maddie’s sake.

It was easier for Doug just to force Maddie to just stay away.

Maddie ended up slowly losing contact with Buck and slowly she stopped talking to her parents.

When they visited them two years ago, it was an emotional time. Maddie had broken down and apologized for everything she had put them through. Doug had forced her to isolate herself, even from her friends and family.

Maddie didn’t any friends she could confide in during her time with Doug. Doug had made sure of that.

She explained to her family how she never wanted them involved, but also how she missed them all every day.

Maddie spent hours talking with Buck telling him things about her time with Doug. They cried a lot together. Even though there was a nine-year age gap between them, they were always really close. Those three years they spent not talking were hard on them both.

“I’ll call Mom and see what we can start sorting out. She can try to organise Dad and Caroline from her end.”

“Buck. I have to get back to work. Call me tonight after shift to let me know what gets worked out."

Maddie hung up before Buck had a chance to say bye.

Buck saw Chimney watching him with a questioning look from in front of the television, controller in hand. Hen was surpassing him in MarioKart, she let out a holler when she beat him. Chimney cursed and turned back to the screen to start a new match.

“Our parents are best friends, but as the years went by, they felt like they were never good for each other romantically. They split amicably. They were more the best friends who decided to raise two children together."

Buck shook his head. No-one was saying anything, so he dialled his Mom’s number. It had been a little longer than a month since he had last spoken to her.

He was lucky his parents had been so supportive of his sexuality when he had come out. He had been terrified of how they would react to start. He had told Maddie first, when she had come around to visit.

He had to work his way up to telling his parents. It had all gone well. It turns out he had nothing to worry about. He knew a lot of other people were not so lucky. 

_“Hi, baby."_ His Mom’s voice chimed in when she picked up the phone.

“Hi, Mom. How has everything been?"

_“Everything is fine sweet boy. Now tell me are you taking care of yourself. You know I worry about you being so far away from home."_

Buck blushed at the endearment. He hoped Chim and Hen didn’t hear that and tease him about it.

“Mom, I am fine. You don’t have to worry about me..."

“Chris and I are taking care of him, Evelyn." Eddie cut in.

_“Is that Eddie? Let me talk to him."_

“You’re on speaker Mom."

_“Eddie sweetheart, when am I going to finally meet you and that sweet boy of yours in person? Talking over the phone isn’t the same. You’ve been dating my baby for six months and I’ve been hearing about you for three years. I’ve been patiently waiting to meet you, I’m this close to coming out there myself to meet you and my grandbaby."_

Eddie was startled over her comment about Christopher being her grandchild. It surprised him that Evelyn had claimed Christopher as her own grandchild even before properly meeting him.

“Well, actually Mom. We’ve actually just started maybe planning to make the trip out for a couple of days. If Bobby can give us the time off. It won’t be for another month; school break isn’t till then and we definitely want Christopher to come. Also, Maddie’s partner Chimney will be tagging along."

There was silence on the other line then a shrill scream. Buck flinched at the volume. Everyone else was startled.

_“You’re coming home?”_

“If we can get the time off…"

“It shouldn’t be a problem Evelyn. I’ll start reorganising the schedule, if you boys give me the dates, I’m sure we can work something out." Bobby called from the kitchen.

_“Is that Bobby? How have we not ever spoken before?"_

His Mom got distracted from her train of thought once she had heard Bobby speaking. She then cut herself off again then got back to her train of thought.

“ _Anyway. We’ll have to make a time for us to talk Bobby. We have much to talk about."_

_“But like I was saying. Still, you are coming home. What about your father? He’ll want to see you and Maddie. He’ll also want to meet your partners and your little boy."_

Buck had thought of Christopher as his son for a long time. He thinks it was during the Tsunami when everything had clicked. He had been devastated when he had been separated from Christopher. He tore the world apart looking for him. He never voiced it to Eddie, he had always kept that thought to himself and tried not to overstep.

He and Eddie had never really discussed what to call his relationship with Christopher, for now, he was just Buck or Bucky to Christopher; he didn’t want to overstep and officially claim Christopher as his if Eddie didn’t want him to. They were just taking each day as it came. They had to in their line of work. Eddie was smiling softly, eyes gentle.

“I think the plan was to get Dad and Caroline to make the trip out at the same time to Pennsylvania. I think it would make it easier on everyone."

The Firehouse alarm started blaring.

_“Attention Station 118…"_

“Mom. We have a call. I’ll call you tomorrow after I’ve spoken to Dad. I love you."

“ _Bye baby. I love you, too. Be safe. Give Eddie and Christopher my love."_

Buck hung up the phone and ran after his team to the trucks.

Had he really thought this through?


	2. Calling Elijah Buckley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buck calls his Dad about having a family reunion of sorts in Pennsylvania.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a bit of a perfectionist with editing; I have been a bit overly critical of myself. This is not Beta read, so hopefully I haven't missed any mistakes. I keep changing things and adding bits in. 
> 
> This story has gotten away from me. 
> 
> Hopefully, the story is easy enough to follow.

Buck and Eddie were leaving the station after their shift had ended. Buck and Eddie were walking out to their respective vehicles. Buck shifted his duffle bag over his shoulder and turned to face Eddie.

“Did you want to come and see Chris tonight? I know you need to call Elijah, but you can do that while you are with Chris and I. It will be good to talk to Elijah again since it has been a while since we all last talked to him."

Buck leant against his Jeep and watched Eddie throw his duffle bag into the backseat of his truck. They were parked next to each other as usual.

“Babe are you sure? I don’t want to impose and overstay my welcome." Buck looked over at Eddie, hesitantly. He never knew how far he was allowed to insert himself into Eddie and Christopher’s lives. He never wanted to overcrowd Christopher and Eddie. There were probably times they wanted time just the two of them without Buck imposing.

“It is never an imposition," Eddie spoke gently, stepping closer to Buck.

“And what is this about you thinking you will overstay your welcome? We always want you around. We would tell you if we needed space, which we don’t for the record."

Buck grabbed Eddie’s hand and squeezed it gently, then laced their fingers together.

“I need to remember that. I’m still getting used to being able to do the things I had to hold myself back from."

Eddie stepped closer, smiling softly as he ran his hand down Buck’s cheek with the hand Buck wasn’t holding.

“I love you. We love you. Hopefully, you know that by now." Eddie brushed a gentle kiss to Buck’s lips to get his point across.

“Come over. We can talk to your Dad together. Chris will definitely want to see you."

Christopher and Eddie had spoken to his Dad before, and his Dad loved them. His Dad would always ask after his boys. Seems Buck wasn’t allowed to talk to his Dad without Eddie and Chris anymore. It never offended Buck. There were times he would talk to his Dad on his own. Other times Elijah demanded Eddie and Christopher be included in their monthly talks.

Buck smiled sheepishly at Eddie. He was still getting used to the idea that he could now head over whenever he felt the urge to. Or needed to. He could also touch Eddie when he wanted without having to second guess himself. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

Eddie brought his lips gently back to Back’s.

“Get a room you two." Chimney and Hen called across the parking lot.

Eddie smiled against Buck’s lips and pulled back. He looked over at Chimney and Hen. The pair were standing grinning at them.

“Don’t you guys have anything better to do?" Buck muttered turning towards Chimney and Hen.

Eddie grinned at Chimney and Hen. “While you have fun discussing mine and Buck’s love life. I’m going to head home. My son is waiting for us."

Eddie said his goodnights to the pair then he turned back to Buck.

“I’ll see you at home." He pressed a kiss to his forehead and jumped into his truck and set off out of the fire station parking lot and headed off home.

As he was slowly leaving the fire station parking lot, he could see in his rear-view mirror Buck being ribbed playfully by Chimney and Hen. Buck said what Eddie assumed was saying goodnight to the others then making his way towards his Jeep. Eddie turned his attention back to the road ahead.

_

Buck arrived at Eddie’s not ten minutes after Eddie did. Chris was already home from school, Carla having picked him up and bringing him home that afternoon.

“Buckaroo. How are you doing, baby?" Carla wrapped him in her arms and squeezed. He always loved Carla’s hugs. He appreciated that they had stayed friends after Abby left.

“Doing good Carla. Maddie and I have to make the trip out to Pennsylvania, so Eddie, Christopher and Chimney can finally meet them in person. According to my Mom talking over the phone just doesn’t cut it. She has threatened to come out here herself if we don’t go."

“You haven’t really talked about your parents. You’ve mentioned a few things in passing but that was about it."

He sat down with Carla on the sofa and told her the same story he told the others. Eddie had met his Mom and Dad over the phone not long after they started dating, but this would be the first time he would introduce a partner he was seriously committed to his family in person.

There had been a relationship from high school. They had only met his parents at a school event of Buck’s. If they hadn’t met there, they wouldn’t have met each other. There had been nothing serious after that. Well, until Abby that is. Abby didn’t stick around long enough to want to meet his family.

This was all new to Buck.

Eddie was in the kitchen preparing dinner for the three of them. Carla had to head home to her own family. She bid goodnight to the boys and headed out the front door. 

Buck took a deep breath and dialled his Dad’s number. He loved how supportive his Dad had been about all his choices and he let him make his own mistakes to learn from them. He was the most grateful when he had come out as Bisexual at seventeen and all four of his parents were supportive. His Dad most of off. It took his Mom a little longer to get used to the idea, but she had always been supportive of him.

Buck and his Dad had been close when Buck was younger, his Dad had made time in his schedule to make it to Buck’s school events. Buck had always appreciated that. There had been one or two that his Dad had to leave early as he had gotten an emergency call. Buck had understood. His Dad was at least attempting to make it to as many events as he could.

It made it harder to keep in contact when he was so far away. Talking over the phone wasn’t the same as seeing each other in person.

He could hear the phone ringing on the other end. Buck hoped that his Dad would answer the phone.

_“Evan?"_ His Dad’s deep voice came over the other end of the line.

“Hi, Dad. How are you doing?"

_“Not doing too bad. I haven’t heard from you in a while."_

“Work has definitely been crazy these last few months. I’m lucky I get to work with my boyfriend otherwise I’d barely see him." Eddie’s head snapped up and watched Buck from the kitchen. Eddie sent him a shy grin and continued prepping dinner. Christopher was sitting at the dining room table colouring in.

_“How is your young man and Christopher doing?"_

Buck got up and walked over to where Christopher was working at the table.

“They are doing good. Christopher is colouring in an awesome picture of a fire truck. Eddie is in the kitchen cooking us dinner."

Buck put the phone on speaker. Eddie walked over to the pair and sat down at the table.

“Hi, Mr. Buckley." Chris chirped, taking his attention away from his picture for a brief moment.

_“Chris, I thought I told you to call me Elijah. Or Eli."_ His Dad gently chided on the other end.

“Eli, how have you been? We haven’t spoken in a while."

_“Evan. Where did you find this one again? Did you see him one day and just followed him home and never left?"_

“Ha Ha. You are hilarious Dad." Buck muttered sarcastically rolling his eyes at his Dad trying to make a joke. 

“I think it was the other way around Eli. Seems like Chris and I stuck ourselves to him like glue, followed him home one day and we’ve just never left."

“I think we have taken turns with the whole following each other home and never leaving," Buck grinned at Eddie from across the table.

“Yeah, Yeah. You are both sappy we get it Evan." Elijah laughed on the other end of the line.

“If you are going to make jokes Dad, then we just won’t tell you what we have planned." Buck trailed his sentence off.

_“So, now you are keeping things from me?"_ His Dad joked. Buck froze and felt guilty about keeping the life-changing events he had gone through from his parents. Eddie got up from his seat and came and stood behind him and started rubbing his shoulders in a show of support.

Buck shook off the guilt. Maybe he’d end up telling them on this trip. He’d have to prepare for the ramifications of keeping it all a secret for so long. He knew he’d have to get it over with, sometime. They may be furious that he kept something that important from them, but hopefully, they’d get over it. He was alive that was the main thing with a few extra scars to show for it.

“How do you feel about finally getting together and having a small family reunion in Pennsylvania?"

_“You’re actually finally going to take the time visit? How long has it been?_ _Three years?"_

Eddie moved back to the kitchen to finish up making dinner, Buck could tell he was still listening to the conversation. Christopher was still focussed on his colouring in.

“Just over two years Dad. I know it has been a long time. With everything that has happened with work, It has been hard finding the time to make the trip to the other side of the country."

Buck almost slipped up and mentioned the fire truck incident. His Dad would have been furious if he found out over the phone. He’d be mad either way, but it would be worse if he found out over the phone.

The accident happened not long after him and Maddie had visited his parents in Pennsylvania the last time. It happened maybe a month after they had gotten back. Buck had many opportunities to tell his parents what had happened while he was healing.

He hadn’t even told them about his relationship with Ali; they hadn’t even been dating that long before they had broken up after his accident.

His parents knew about the tsunami from the national news. They had called him asking about it afterwards. They hadn’t even questioned if he had been there or not. He just evaded the questions, hopefully not making his parents too suspicious.

Instead, he had been fighting for his life and Christopher’s life. 

_“So, what’s this about a family reunion?"_

Buck started to go over the details with his Dad. Buck walked over to the wall calendar to read off the dates for Christopher’s upcoming Spring break. They still needed to book the time off at work, Bobby mentioned to them it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. They’d be able to get people to cover Buck, Chimney, and Eddie since they had given him just over a month's notice. Bobby just told them to let him know the exact dates they wanted off so he could arrange it for them. Buck hated to leave Bobby three men down, but Bobby waved him off. There were always other firefighters looking for overtime and could cover them.

Eddie waved Buck over and mouthed to him that dinner was ready. Eddie started putting food onto plates then took them over to the table. Buck helped Christopher clear the table of his colouring book and pencils so there was room for them to eat.

“Dad. I have to go, dinner’s ready. I’ll call you in a few days once we have sorted out the time off with our boss and booked our flights. You can coordinate with Mom once we sort everything. It will be great if you and Caroline could make it."

_“Alright then. I’ll talk to you then. I love you, Evan. We need to keep in contact more."_

“I love you, too Dad. Give Caroline my love. Talk soon."


	3. Time For Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Planning the trip to Pennsylvania

They had tentatively come up with a plan for their Pennsylvania trip. They’d take two days off work and get the schedule rearranged a bit to end up with four days off in total. They’d make up the time they had taken off the day after they got back to Los Angeles. They’d have a day on each end for traveling as their flights would be just over five hours long. Which meant they had half a day to travel to Pennsylvania and a day getting back home. They would have time to settle back in ready for their 24-hour shift the next day.

They would get to spend two full days in Pennsylvania. That was definitely enough for Buck, he wasn’t sure how much time with their family Maddie could handle. He loved his family, but even two days was a bit much. They’d run out of things to talk about. They would get sick of each other quickly. Two days was more than enough for them to catch up with each other. Sure, they hadn’t seen each other in just over two years. Even then, if they spent too much time together, they’d end up with nothing to talk about. Or they’d just end up killing each other if they spent any longer together.

Of course not literally killing each other, but they’d definitely get sick of each other.

Booking the flights to Hershey caused some disagreement between everyone.

They were trying to decide how to pay for the flights.

Buck tried to argue that he was fine with paying for everyone’s tickets as he had fewer expenses than the others. Eddie had not been impressed with that idea. He had argued that he should just pay for his and Christopher’s tickets and everyone else just paid for their own.

Buck disagreed. He was the one to invite him so he should pay for Christopher and Eddie’s tickets.

Maddie brought up that she still had the money from Doug that she had never touched before. It had just been sitting there. She didn’t want to think about the money at all, but she knew that none of them actually made a lot of money. They didn’t have a tonne of disposable income to use on plane tickets. Rents in Los Angeles were high, so a majority of their income actually went towards paying their monthly rent.

Eddie had the most expenses out of all of them. Therapy, Carla, Private School, Rent, Bills to name a few. He didn’t have much disposable income in the end.

Chimney was trying to stay out of the arguments. Except he got pulled in against his will.

Eddie, Buck and Chimney were arguing across the room from her. She didn’t even know what they were arguing about anymore.

While the others were still arguing Maddie made the executive decision to book the flights. She pulled out her phone and found a travel app.

She entered her starting point and the destination. She input the dates into the system. She found the flights and booked in for four adults and one child. She went through the booking process and entered her credit card information. She’d pay it off almost immediately she didn’t enjoy having credit card debt. She barely used it. She more often than not used her debit card for purchases.

Buck was the first to notice that Maddie had booked the tickets while he had been arguing with Eddie and Chimney.

“Oh, come on Maddie. Why did you have to go and do that?"

Buck pulled up his own phone and pulled open his banking app.

“How much for the tickets? I’m paying you back for them."

“Nope, not telling you. I don’t want you to pay me back. There is no need to pay me back. I don’t need that money. I don’t want that money. Just don’t even bother even trying to pay me back. What ever you transfer to me I’ll just transfer it right back to you. We’ll play back and forth for as long as you keep trying to pay me."

The money she had from her marital assets from Doug, was constantly at the back of her mind. She didn’t think about it all the time, but it was always just there taunting her. It was basically haunting her since the day she had received it. She never knew what to do with the money. It was basically just sitting there untouched. It didn’t bring back the best memories. Of course, there had been some nice memories from the start of their relationship, but over time the memories were tarnished.

If she could use that money to bring their family together after not seeing them for a couple of years. She could make some happier memories with her family.

This was the first time she had even touched it in the year since she had received it.

Eddie was uncomfortable about her paying for his and Christopher’s tickets.

“Eddie, you and Christopher are part of this family. Once you chose my brother, you were automatically stuck with the rest of us. I never wanted the reminder of my final years with Doug. I’ve let him go. The least he can do now is let us be happy. So just smile and be happy about it." Maddie gently threatened.

Eddie still looked unsure. He was happy that Maddie had accepted him and Christopher into their family. She treated him more like a brother-in-law than her brother's boyfriend and his son like her nephew.

Eddie knew he needed to have a serious talk to Buck about being Christopher’s other father officially. They already unconsciously co-parented Chris. It felt so natural to both of them. Eddie just wanted to make the whole thing official. He had already spoken to Chris about it, and he was way too excited about the idea.

Eddie just didn’t know how to bring it up with Buck.

Perhaps he’d just give Buck the adoption papers as a present for his 30th birthday. That was only a few months away. That would give him enough time to get the ball rolling.

He already knew Buck was serious about their relationship, even more he seemed to be all in for being a co-parent to Chris. He just didn’t think Buck even realized he was doing it.

“Well, that’s the tickets booked. We have the dates sorted, now we have to talk to our respective bosses and get the time booked off."

Maddie spoke ending the argument completely. She was waiting for the others to argue with her.

Bobby had already agreed to give the three of them the time off. Maddie had spoken to Sue and explained the situation to her. Maddie had been given the time off, she just had to give the exact dates so they could get someone to cover her.

Maddie picked up her phone and called their Mom, ready to tell her that they booked the tickets ready to go see them.

“Hi, Mom. How are you?"

_“Hi, my sweet girl. I’m doing just fine. How are you doing, baby?"_

“We’ve just booked the tickets for our trip to Pennsylvania. We’ll be there on the 22nd of April just before lunch."

_“Oh, that is exciting. I’ll come and get you all from the airport."_

“Mom, you know that wouldn’t work. There wouldn’t be enough room in your car. Remember, there are five of us coming along not just me and Evan. Your car can only fit four additional people.”

_“Then Noah can come along and bring his car. Which means some can go in his car and the others in mine."_

The plan seemed like it would work better, saves them getting two separate Uber rides from the airport.

“Mom, we can just get an Uber." Buck chimed in.

_“My babies will not be getting an Uber. Noah and I will collect you all from the airport and that is final."_

Chimney and Eddie were laughing at the two siblings getting scolded by their mother.

“What day are Dad and Caroline coming in?" Buck chimed in, trying to change the subject.

“Um let me have a look. They have already booked their flights. Here is it. They arrive on the 22nd of April. The same day as you all actually. Looks like their flight arrives not long after yours. We’ll just stick around the airport and wait for their flight to get in. Saves a trip."

Buck looked at the time on his phone. Maddie seemed to be trying to gently get their Mom off the line.

Buck, Chimney, and Eddie had a shift starting in a couple of hours, so they all had to head off to get ready for it anyway.

It was going to be a long 24-hour shift.

“Mom. You can argue with us later. I have a 24-hour shift starting soon and I need to go home and get my stuff. Maddie also has the graveyard shift. Love you. I’ll talk to you later."

Buck spun around, grabbed Eddie and they dashed out the front door before his Mom could argue with him.

_“Ok baby I’ll talk to you soon."_

“Yeah Mom, he’s already gone."

_“That boy. Oh well. Ok baby. Have a good shift. Bye Chimney. I know you've been there the whole time. Have a good shift. You boys look out for each other. I’ll call your father and let him know what the plan is for the 22 nd."_

Maddie hung up the phone and turned to Chimney.

“Are you actually ready to meet mine and Buck’s crazy family?"

“Well, I’ve already met Buck. How much worse can it be?" Chimney joked bringing Maddie into a kiss.

_

Buck and Eddie walked into the fire station and made their way to the locker room to change for their shift.

“I really hope you know what you are getting into."

Eddie looked away from his locker and over at Buck.

“No place I’d rather be. I’m actually really looking forward to properly meeting your family. Talking to them on the phone isn’t the same."

Eddie brought their lips together in a gentle kiss.

“Get a room, boys." Hen whistled.

Buck rolled his eyes and made his way into the loft where Bobby was making dinner for the team.

“Hey, Bobby."

Buck sat down at one of the bar stools at the counter.

“Evening Buck. Have you got those dates for me?"

Buck handed over their itinerary so Bobby could book the time off for the three of them.

“Will sort this out after dinner. If we have time. If not, whenever I get a free moment. I already have the paperwork filled out I just need to add in the dates.”

Once dinner was served, they only managed to get halfway through the meal before the alarm went off. They never had the chance to get a full meal in. It did get frustrating.

They all groaned and grabbed what food they could and ran down to the trucks.

_

After not seeing his family for just over two years he was finally introducing Eddie to them. After he had been wanting to be in a relationship with him for so long and unofficially adopting Christopher as his own, not that Eddie knew that.

Maddie had already loved and accepted Eddie and Christopher into their lives. Buck loved Chimney in the brotherly sense, he loved Chimney for his sister and the friendship he had given to Buck over the years. He only wanted his sister and Chimney to be happy. If that was with each other than so be it.

He could see himself spending the rest of his life with Eddie. He just hoped that Eddie felt the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still editing this story. I have added in a bit more, now the story in Word is 58k. My plan is to at least upload once a day. You may get two depending on how editing goes. 
> 
> I have been trying to sort out getting the locks changed on my flat I am renting as it was broken into early Saturday morning New Zealand Time. I was home asleep in my bedroom just down the hall from where things had been stolen from. My flatmate's television and car were stolen, along with my weed eater. Thankfully, nothing else was. My flatmate needs to claim his insurance so we can get the locks changed ASAP.
> 
> Sorry for venting. I am quite frustrated. 
> 
> Everything in the story should hopefully make sense as it goes along.


	4. Packing For Pennsylvania

The date of their flight came up rather quickly. It felt like no time at all. Maddie and Buck’s Dad, Elijah had organized his and Caroline’s flights before Buck and Maddie had even sorted theirs. He and Caroline would arrive half an hour after they did, so they’d be sticking around the airport to wait for their flight to get in, before making the trip back to Hershey.

Buck was at Eddie’s place helping Eddie and Chris pack for the trip as they had never been to Pennsylvania.

“What is the weather supposed to be doing while we are there?"

Eddie was rooting through his closet looking for suitable clothes. Christopher was sitting on the bed giggling at his Dad.

“It can get chilly. It is also a little wet this time of year so be prepared for that. The highest temperatures will probably only get to 55° maybe 60° if we are lucky. It will definitely be cloudy. Bring some warm pajamas as the nights can get cold. It definitely is nothing like California."

Eddie started throwing clothes out of his closet. The clothes were pelting Buck and Chris. Chris was curled up in a ball giggling trying to avoid the clothing projectiles.

“Interesting method there Babe."

Eddie poked his head out and saw the pile of clothes on the bed.

“Maybe I went a little overboard."

Buck started sorting through the clothes, picking out the more necessary items and putting them to one side.

“Have you got a large warm jacket?"

The packing process for Eddie didn’t take all that long after Buck had sorted through the mountain of clothes. What clothes Buck felt were unnecessary Buck put back into Eddie’s closet neatly.

While Eddie was packing his toiletries, Buck helped Christopher pack his suitcase. Buck had to talk Christopher out of packing all of his books.

Their flight was tomorrow so Buck was staying over at Eddie’s place. They were going to catch an Uber to the airport. They had to leave just before 4 am to get to the airport for their flight at 5.45 am. The flight was just over five hours. They were meant to get into Pennsylvania just before 11 if their flight was running on time.

They would be meeting up with Evelyn and Noah by 11.30 if their flight wasn’t delayed and they could get through security promptly.

They would have to find things to entertain Christopher for that length of time. Hopefully, they could distract him with movies and some books. Or hopefully Christopher would be tired enough that he would get a nap in. 

Maddie and Chimney were meeting them at the airport. They’d meet by the check-in desks and check-in together before waiting for their flight.

Buck’s suitcase was sitting by the door. He had a small carry-on that held his laptop, wallet, keys and a few other necessities for travel.

When he had finished helping Chris pack, he helped him bring it to the door and placed it beside his own. Eddie walked out of his room carrying his own luggage and placed it with the others.

They were planning on an early dinner and then winding down with Christopher watching a movie. He’d be out quickly, they’d just go to be the same time as Chris. They had to be up at 3 am and make sure they were all sorted with last-minute things. Buck was dreading dragging his ass out of bed at 3 in the morning just to get on a plane. Sure, if he had to go out on a call, he could handle that, but for a flight, it wasn’t as fun. Braving an airport at 5 am was something he did not want to do.

Eddie made some grilled cheese sandwiches and some tomato soup for dinner. They sat down at the dining room table and ate together.

The three of them settled in to watch a movie to wind down for the evening. Christopher was going to crash out halfway through the movie, anyway.

The three of them cuddled on the couch and watched whatever movie Christopher had picked.

Eddie watched Buck cradle his son against his chest and run his fingers through his hair. He could see that Christopher was nodding off at the calming motion of Buck’s hand.

Christopher was knocked out not ten minutes later.

Buck turned off the television and scooped Christopher into his arms. Buck made his way to Chris’ bedroom with Eddie following close behind. Eddie pulled back the covers and Buck lay Chris down, pulling the blanket over him. Buck pressed a gentle kiss to Christopher’s forehead and stood in the doorway watching Eddie do the same.

When Eddie turned to him, Buck held out his hand to Eddie.

“Come on. Let’s just go to bed. We have to be up in a few hours." Buck whispered.

Eddie linked his hand with Buck’s. They walked together down the hallway to his bedroom. They slowly dressed for bed. They both set multiple alarms for the early morning so they wouldn’t sleep through them. They also planned with Maddie and Chim to call each other to make sure everyone was awake and ready to go.

“Goodnight _Mi Amor."_

“Mmm. Goodnight." Buck breathed as he brushed a kiss to Eddie’s lips and wrapped his arms around him.

_

“Chimney. Are you all packed?"

Maddie was on the phone with Chimney. He was supposed to be heading over soon. Her apartment was closer to the airport, Chimney was meant to be staying over. Buck was over at Eddie’s helping him and Christopher pack for Pennsylvania weather. They’d see each other at the ass crack of dawn in the morning. It wasn’t even going to be dawn. It was going to be just before 5 am. Why did she have to book their flight for stupid o'clock?

Oh, that’s right. She wanted everyone to stop arguing, so she made the executive decision to book the flights. She didn’t even bother to look at the times until after she had booked them.

It worked better this way. They’d have more time in the afternoon to settle in. 

They had just finished work, her shift had ended at 5 pm, Chimney had finished a little bit later than her. Chimney was just stopping at his apartment first to grab his luggage before heading to hers.

Everyone was going to be super cranky at the airport.

Eddie and Buck would probably have to drag Chris through the airport because he’ll be mostly asleep. Pretty much all of them would be chugging coffee to keep themselves awake until they were able to board their flight.

“Yes, Maddie. I am all packed and ready to go. I have everything I need. I followed all your advice about the weather and packed accordingly."

“Don’t mock me. Howard Han."

Chimney huffed out a laugh.

“Anyway. You looking forward to seeing your parents? Hopefully, yours are better than my father and stepmother."

Chimney had a very stoic father. He thought Chimney only called him to get money. That always frustrated her. She wished she could have met his mother. Chimney always told her the occasional story about his mother. She sounded like an amazing woman.

“Well, my parents just may end up adopting you." She joked.

“I just have to grab a few more things then I’ll head over."

“I’ll have dinner ready for you when you get here."

“This is why I love you." He countered half-jokingly. She knew he was serious about his love for her. It wasn't something he'd ever fully joke about.

“You are such a dork. I love you, too. See you soon."

Maddie hung up and went to work to make dinner, she wasn’t a great cook she could really only cook a few simple dishes. She needed to get a bit more practice to expand her cooking skills.

She already had her bags packed, and they were waiting by the front door just off to the side so they wouldn’t become a tripping hazard. 

Maddie wasn’t as nervous about introducing Chimney to her parents like she had been introducing Doug to them when she was seventeen. She married Doug when she was nineteen against her parents’ wishes. Buck had never liked Doug, but she never listened to her little brother’s arguments about him.

She regrets many things in her life but leaving Doug and moving to Los Angeles was something she’d never regret. She will always be thankful to Buck for convincing her to stay. She made a whole new extended family with the 118, the 911 call centre team and their partners and kids. She has such a wonderful life and is thankful that she made that decision to leave Doug and make the trip to see her brother. She missed him all those years they didn’t speak.

She was ready to move on with her life and spend the rest of hers with Chimney. They had been through so much and she was so grateful to him for being her rock at the start of their friendship and to something more.

She and her brother had each made their own little families, and they had their large patchwork family with everyone they had met and gotten close to in LA.

She was ready for what was to come.

_

“Maddie?" Chimney called from the foyer.

Maddie came out of the kitchen and walked towards Chimney. She smiled gently at him.

“Hey," She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “you are right on time. Dinner is ready."

They ate dinner in front of the television. Chimney was still trying to expand her pop culture knowledge. They had gotten through a lot of films and television shows in time they had become friends and had been dating.

“What will it be tonight?"

Maddie wasn’t fully focussed on the movie. Her attention was more on watching Chimney’s reactions. She loved he was so passionate. There had been people that had made comments to her face and behind her back saying she could be dating someone better looking as if looks meant anything to her.

He was beautiful to her. She loved his heart. He was such a sweet man. He cared for everyone. He loved her brother and accepted him when he joined their team. He was a kind, sensitive man. That was a romantic at heart. There were times she had to get him to tone it down a little. These movie nights and their Buff Fridays were what she loved. Sure, she loved the occasional date night out where they got to dress up and go out, but she didn’t need that all the time. She didn’t need much other than him.

“What? Do I have something on my face?" Chimney looked at her looking puzzled.

“Nothing. I just love you."

Chimney looked bashful like he couldn’t believe that he had someone like her in his life.

“I love you, too." He smacked a wet kiss to her cheek.

“You are gross dude." She joked, playfully shoving him.

This right here is what she loved.


	5. Get To The Airport

All three alarms started blaring at three o'clock in the morning. Buck groaned and rolled over. The sound just wouldn’t stop.

His eyes snapped open when he realized what the alarms were for.

Buck dragged himself out of the bed and out of Eddie’s embrace to turn off each of the alarms.

“Come back to bed." Eddie murmured trying to pull Buck back in.

“Babe. We have to get ready to head to the airport."

Eddie bolted up. He seemed to be wide awake now. Buck was still bleary-eyed. He grabbed his cellphone and called his sister.

“I’m awake." She muttered sleepily answering the phone.

“Why are we doing this to ourselves?" Buck watched Eddie move to the bathroom to have a quick shower to wake himself up.

“Because we just happen to love our parents and we wanted to properly introduce our significant others to them. Why are we such dumbasses for planning our flight this early?" Maddie complained.

“Hi dumbass. It was you who booked the flight, remember."

“Ugh. Please don’t remind me. I’ve already had Chimney glare at me this morning for waking him up this early." She joked.

Eddie walked out of the bathroom and got changed into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

“Maddie. I need to go have a shower. We’ll see you at the airport."

“Hopefully we can at least get some sleep on the plane."

They hung up and Buck made his way to the bathroom, kissing Eddie good morning on the way.

After stripping off his pajamas he jumped straight into a cold shower. He flinched at the frigid temperature. He was definitely more awake now.

_

Buck made his way into the kitchen where Christopher was seated at the table almost falling back asleep into his cereal bowl.

Buck ate a quick slice of toast; he booked an Uber while he ate. Eddie had already eaten and was packing the last-minute items they needed and put them by the other stuff.

“Uber is ten minutes away." He quickly washed their breakfast dishes, so they didn’t come home to them.

“Alright Chris, have you gone to the bathroom?" Eddie called out. He was running through the list of things they needed, going over what was already packed.

“Buck, do you have your phone charger?"

Buck would always forget his and have to borrow someone’s.

“Babe, seriously of course I do. Do you even need to ask?"

“Yes, I do. You always forget it. So, check again." He kissed his cheek and went to go make sure Chris was all set to go. Chris was sitting on his floor putting his shoes on.

They made their way outside to where the Uber was waiting. There was a bit of a chill in the air. They put their suitcases in the trunk of the car.

Eddie buckled Chris into the middle seat of the car and slid in next to him. Buck hopped in on the other side.

“All set?' Their driver asked looking into the rear-view mirror watching the trio.

Buck buckled himself in and nodded to the driver.

The streets of Los Angeles blew past. Chris fell asleep against Buck’s shoulder. Eddie blinked rapidly, trying not to do the same.

Buck was chatting to the driver, more than likely trying to keep himself awake. The drive to the airport didn’t take too long. There wasn’t a rush of traffic like there usually is later in the morning. Buck had to gently prod Chris awake so they could get him out of the car.

Eddie started pulling the suitcases out of the car, while Buck went and got them a trolley to carry their luggage. Chris was slowly waking up. He decided he wanted his Buck to piggyback him through the airport.

They saw Maddie and Chimney standing just off to the side waiting for them to arrive.

“Morning guys." Eddie yawned walking towards the pair with their trolley.

Maddie brought Eddie into a quick loose hug and sleepily rested her head on his shoulder. She wasn’t quite awake yet. None of them were really. 

“Ready to meet the family? You’ve gotten this far you don’t have a lot of time left to back out, but you still can." Maddie joked.

Eddie smiled shaking his head. He knew Maddie was joking. He wouldn’t abandon ship, the ship, in this case, being Buck. He was committed to him, had been even before they started dating. Buck had accepted Christopher into his life from the moment he had met him. Buck was the best co-parent to Christopher, even if Buck hadn’t realized it yet.

“Right. Let’s go check in then get some coffee." Maddie started making her way to the check-in desk.

There wasn’t a tonne of people waiting in line, they got through in ten minutes.

They made their way to the food court and sat down at a table. Eddie took everyone’s order and went to get everyone their choice of coffee and Christopher a hot chocolate.

When Eddie got back Chris was dozing on Buck’s lap. Buck had his arms around him so he wouldn’t fall off.

“Oh my god, coffee." Maddie grabbed a cup before Eddie had even sat the tray down. She had taken a sip before looking on the side of the cup to see whose it was.

“Nope. This is yours, Eddie." She pulled a face handing it back.

Eddie laughed. Maddie didn’t think to check the markings on the side of the cup. Eddie pulled out Maddie’s one and handed it to her.

“This is yours."

Eddie passed around the rest of the drinks. Christopher had a hold on his. Buck spoke softly into his ear about being careful it was hot. He took the drink out of Chris’ hands and took the lid off to let it cool down enough for Chris to drink it.

Chim was sitting quietly sipping at his coffee.

“Chim, are you doing ok?" Buck spoke to his friend and what he assumed to be his soon-to-be brother in law.

“Why are we doing this so early?" He whined.

It was nearing at 5 am. The sun hadn’t even risen yet. They’d be on the plane by the time the sun started rising.

“Ok babe, your drink should be cool enough now." Buck placed the lid back on the cup and handed it back to Christopher.

Eddie was a little surprised, he had never heard Buck call Chris any sort of endearment or nickname besides Superman or Buddy before. He smiled at the pair gently. He definitely needed to talk to Buck about how much he wanted him to be in their lives forever. That he was a second Dad to Chris. 

Maddie and Chimney were grinning at the pair. Buck hadn’t even noticed everyone watching him and Chris. He was so absorbed in the boy that nothing else around him mattered. 

They all sat around sipping their drinks while they waited for their boarding time to near.

_

“We have forty minutes until our flight. We’ll do last-minute bathroom stops then head to security, hopefully, we can get through quickly." Chimney stood up pulling Maddie with him. They all tossed their cups into the trash and headed off to the bathrooms.

Buck carried Christopher and Christopher’s backpack and Chris’ crutches, while Eddie carried his and Buck’s bags, they made their way into the bathroom.

Chimney was already washing his hands when the trio walked into the bathroom.

Buck waited with their luggage while the other two went to the bathroom once they were done Buck went.

Maddie and Chimney were waiting for them just outside the bathrooms. The group made their way over to the security check-in.

There wasn’t a long line, but it still took them over fifteen minutes to get through. Buck had to carry a medical certificate just in case he set off the alarms from the rod and screws in his leg. It shouldn’t set the alarms off, but it was always good to be safe than sorry in this situation.

They still had time to kill before they were allowed to begin boarding. Christopher tried to go back to sleep in Buck’s arms. Maddie was dozing on Chimney’s shoulder. Buck was also drifting but kept waking himself up.

Their flight came over the intercom, they got out of their seats and made their way over to the boarding desk. The line was short, and they made their way onto the plane.

Maddie hadn’t exactly told them what part of the plane she had booked them into. She handed them each a boarding pass right as they were at the desk, so they didn’t have time to read the passes.

When the flight attendant pointed them in a different direction instead of where the Economy seats were, they were to Business Class.

“Maddie. What did you do?" Buck spoke lowly to his sister.

“I just thought we should be comfortable for our flight.” Maddie made her way to her seat, which just happened to be away from where Eddie, Christopher, and Buck were seated.

Eddie, Buck, and Chimney all looked at each other uncomfortably.

They made their way to their seats. It was done now. There was nothing they could do about it. Buck would definitely chew her out later.

Christopher and Eddie were seated on one side of the aisle and Buck was sitting on the other side. He ended up getting another passenger seated next to him. It wasn’t easy being separated a little from his boys, but the seat was at least comfortable.

_

They were a couple of hours into their flight when breakfast arrived. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t the best either. He could have made a better breakfast. The meal they received would have been better than one in Economy.

Chris was glued to the movie in front of him. He was so absorbed. Eddie was reading a novel. Buck pulled out his headphones and listened to some music while trying to have a nap.

Sometime later he felt someone gently shake his shoulder.

“Bucky."

“Hey, Buddy. What’s up?"

“Cuddle." Christopher clambered onto Buck’s lap and snuggled into him. Buck’s heart fluttered at the sight of the little boy cuddled into him.

He looked over to Eddie and found that he was asleep with headphones on.

Buck and Christopher dozed for a couple of hours, waking up only to go to the bathroom.

A flight attendant came over and spoke gently to him.

“Sir. Your son will have to go back to his seat. We are about to land." 

Chris whined a little but went back to his seat after giving Buck a tight hug.

Their flight was about to land in Pennsylvania how prepared was he actually for this moment?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Buck and Maddie's parents properly enter the story. That chapter is mostly edited and should be up in the morning New Zealand time.


	6. Meet The Buckley's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting to meet the parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, this was supposed to be uploaded this morning, but I got caught up with things that needed to be sorted out ASAP. 
> 
> Then I got distracted by editing. 
> 
> Hopefully, you like this chapter. Should have the next one up soon.

The flight landed and Buck started to gather his things. Buck looked over and saw that Eddie and Chris were doing the same. He was excited to see his family, but he was also nervous. It had been a long time. What if this trip didn’t go well? What if they had made a mistake coming here? His over-anxious mind was fighting against him.

His mind was racing. Buck definitely wanted to be here, but his mind was trying to make him think otherwise. Buck pushed back those feelings and started to walk with Eddie and Christopher off the plane.

Christopher wanted to walk himself out of the plane, so Eddie carried his and Christopher’s bags. Buck linked his hand with Eddie’s, and they walked out together.

Maddie and Chimney were not far behind them.

They made their way to baggage claim and waited for their luggage.

Evelyn and Noah would be waiting for them inside the entrance to the airport.

They waited in baggage claim until the crowd thinned out before they grabbed their bags off the conveyor belt.

They made their way to the entrance of the airport to look for Evelyn and Noah.

Buck scanned the crowd of people keeping a lookout for his Mom and Noah.

“Do you see them Mads?" Buck wondered. There were too many people. He couldn’t make out where his Mom was.

“Over there, Evan." She pointed out.

There was his Mom standing looking around for them.

Buck looked more like his Mom than Maddie did. They shared the same blue eyes and dark blond hair, Evelyn’s was greying, mid-length curly hair, with some waves throughout. When Buck’s hair was longer, he had some curls atop his head; the curls were growing back after Buck had cut it a month ago.

Buck had an entire foot in height on his mother. Also his sister. 

“Mom!" He called out as they got closer.

Eddie trailed along at his side with their hands still linked. Christopher was walking with Maddie and Chimney.

“You’re here!" She threw her arms around Buck first and squeezed him tightly. Buck let go of Eddie’s hand and lifted his mother off the ground and squeezed her back tightly, he gently put her back down.

“There’s my beautiful boy." She stood on her tiptoes and cupped his cheek.

“Mom. See, you can finally meet Eddie and Christopher, now you can quit bugging me."

His Mom went to Christopher first, gently hugging him. She was saying something softly to him, that the rest of them couldn’t hear.

Everyone always adored Christopher on sight. He stole everyone’s hearts. Even when you were having a bad day. He just brightened up an entire room.

Evelyn let go of Christopher and made her way over to Eddie.

“Eddie. It is so lovely to finally meet you in person sweetheart. Thank you for loving my boy." She hugged him tightly. She pulled back and cupped his face with both of her hands.

“Such kind, expressive eyes."

“Loving him is one of the easiest things I’ve ever done in my life." Eddie clutched Buck’s hand in his own.

Evelyn gently tapped Eddie’s face and smiled.

She then turned to her daughter.

“Maddie! My sweet girl." They were hugging each other tightly.

Eddie could see some resemblance in them. They were the same height; they had the same nose and lips. Buck definitely looked more like his Mom though.

Evelyn had finally let Maddie go to greet Chimney.

“Chimney. It is so lovely to meet you. My children have had such wonderful things to say about you."

She brought him into a hug.

Noah was introducing himself to Eddie and Christopher.

Noah was a tall man, about an inch shorter than Buck. His hair was a light shade of brown which was greying. He had kind green eyes and a bright smile.

Buck had made his way over to Noah to greet his stepdad. He wrapped his arms around Noah tightly. Noah had been around for most of Buck’s life. He would always be one of the most important people in Buck's life.

They needed to keep in contact more.

Buck knew what was coming. Noah was about to tell one of his science jokes. Maddie and Buck had heard so many science jokes over the years. Who knew what Noah would come up with?

“So, get this. A frog telephones the Psychic Hotline. His Personal Psychic Advisor tells him, “You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you."

Maddie groans. Not this joke. She had already heard this a few times before. 

“The frog is thrilled! “This is great! Will I meet her at a party?" “No," Says his advisor, “In her biology class.”"

“Oh, come on Noah really?" Maddie whines in embarrassment. Her stepdad was such a dork.

Buck had never realised he had so many people important to him, that he loved. That also loved him in return. He always underestimated his value to other people.

Noah loved the Buckley kids. He had known them since Maddie was sixteen and Buck was seven. He didn’t see Maddie as much after she married Doug. They would only visit occasionally.

Then Doug had kept her away for so long.

They stood around waiting for Elijah and Caroline’s flight to get in. Chris wanted to be held, and he roped Buck into holding him.

“He has you wrapped around his finger." His Mom teased. She watched her baby carry his son. They hadn’t bothered correcting her when she thought that Buck was Christopher’s second Dad. 

Eddie so badly wanted it to be true, so he just went with it.

“I can’t say no to this kid."

They didn’t have to wait too long once Elijah and Caroline’s flight from Chicago arrived. They caught up with the group just over half an hour later.

“Dad!" Maddie jumped into her father’s arms and squeezed him tightly.

Elijah was tall, he was shorter than Buck only by two inches. He had mostly grey hair that had bits of dark brown throughout, and light brown eyes like Maddie.

Caroline was a tall woman; she was a lot taller than Maddie and Evelyn. She was about 5’ 8" with blonde greying hair and hazel eyes.

Elijah and Caroline were introduced properly to Chimney, Christopher and Eddie.

Buck took over greeting his Dad. He had definitely missed seeing him.

“Caroline. How have you been?" Buck walked alongside her.

“Have you been sticking to the fitness regime I sent you?" She watched Buck carefully.

“You know I have. You know I always keep to the regimes you send me. I have to keep fit to be good at my job." 

“You know I’ll check."

“Yeah, Yeah. You’ll send Maddie to spy on me. Like always."

They chatted while they walked to the parking lot where Evelyn and Noah had parked. Maddie was clinging to her Dad while she walked alongside him chatting away to him, with Caroline jumping in every so often.

Christopher was on Buck’s back while they trekked to the car. Buck had his arm looped with Eddie’s as Buck was holding onto Christopher under his legs and Buck also wanted to keep contact with Eddie.

They split off into separate vehicles. Maddie, Chimney, Elijah, and Caroline were in Noah’s car. Buck, Chris, and Eddie were in Evelyn’s car. They started to make their way towards Hershey. Back to Evelyn and Noah’s home, where Buck and Maddie had grown up.

_

They pulled up to the Buckley childhood home. A two-storey home with a grey roof, wrap-around porch and a white exterior and light blue trim.

He took off his seatbelt and opened the car door. He started to get the luggage out of the trunk, while Eddie helped Christopher out of the car.

“It still looks the same." Buck spoke quietly, looking at his childhood home.

“Baby, you were here two years ago." His Mom answered softly. Tapping him gently on the back of the head. Her son could be a dumbass sometimes. He was an intelligent man, but he could definitely be a dumbass.

“Oh, right." He muttered looking down.

They were walking up to the front door when Noah’s car pulled into the driveway.

Eddie helped Chris up the small steps leading up to the front door. Stepping inside the house it was warm and cosy. There were family photos on the walls, little knick-knacks spread around the home. A large lounge with a separate dining room. There were two bedrooms downstairs and three upstairs.

They left all the luggage in the foyer while they all made their way into the lounge to settle in after their flights. Buck, Eddie, and Christopher made themselves comfortable on one of the love seats. Noah was seated in one recliner, Elijah in the other. Caroline and Evelyn were on the other love seat, while Maddie and Chimney had taken over the large couch.

Maddie and Buck were telling stories of things their parents had missed in the last couple of years since their last visit.

Maddie talked about finally found her footing in Los Angeles and how she was finding her job as a 9-1-1 operator, she didn’t know if she’d ever go back to being a nurse. She told them about the time she thought about going back into nursing because she thought she couldn’t handle being a 9-1-1 dispatcher.

This was before Josh brought her to an intervention where past callers were, they showed her how much she made a difference being a 9-1-1 operator and they didn’t want her to give up on something she loved.

She completely skipped the extra stuff she had been through in relation to Doug semi-recently. Her parents didn’t need to have Doug brought back into their lives.

Buck ended up slipping up and accidently told them about the accident with the fire truck. Well, that didn’t take long for him to slip up. He didn’t expect it to come out as quickly as it had.

“After everything with the fire truck, I just needed to get back to work..."

“What happened with the fire truck, Evan?" His Dad asked curiously.

Buck froze. Oh shit. It wasn’t meant to come out like that.

“Um… I got crushed by the 118-ladder truck." Buck spoke quickly and quietly.

"I’m sorry. Did you just say you got crushed by a fire truck? When was this?" His Mom demanded. She sounded angry.

Oh shit. He had just dug himself into a hole. They would not let him get out of this one.

“It happened a month after we visited you the last time." He sighed timidly. He was steeling himself for the outburst that was sure to come.

Everyone else had gone silent. They didn’t know how to help dig him out of the hole Buck had gotten himself into. He had to tell them eventually, might as well get it over with now instead of leaving it hidden.

Chimney, Christopher, Eddie, and Maddie excused themselves as politely as they could and went for a walk outside while Buck and his parents yelled at each other. They didn’t need to be there for it. It had nothing to do with them. So, they escaped while they still could without it being too awkward.

His parents were silently fuming as he told the story of the kid that had planted a bomb under the ladder truck to kill Bobby, they were definitely upset that he didn’t tell them of his suffering. They would have done anything they could have to help him.

He told them of the entire vehicle coming down onto his leg. He rolled up his left pant leg and show the light pink scars that were etched into his leg from multiple surgeries. He told them of the five long months of physical therapy to get back into fighting shape to go back to work.

He continued with his story and told them of the Pulmonary Embolism he had suffered from after a clot had hit his lungs. They had then found a couple more clots in his leg. Which led him to being put on blood thinners for months to help stop the clots, which ended up being from his leg surgery.

The Tsunami came next. How he and Christopher had gone out to Santa Monica Pier for the day and got caught in the natural disaster. He didn’t mention being separated from Chris. He and Eddie had talked extensively about everything that had gone wrong between them from the Tsunami to the lawsuit to the street fighting when they started dating.

Buck had still blamed himself a lot for losing Christopher during the tsunami. Even if Eddie and Christopher had thought he had forgiven himself fully. That would take time. He was still working on it.

It had taken Eddie and with help from Christopher to convince him that a natural disaster wasn’t anything he could have controlled or foreseen. It had taken a long time to convince him that nothing had been his fault. It was just unfortunate circumstances that had spiralled out of control.

Those talks they had brought them closer together.

They understood each other a lot more after airing out all their dirty laundry; it had taken a massive weight off them both.

There had been a lot of tears and a lot of anger, but it was cathartic.

He spoke about being finally let back at work. He didn’t mention his dumbass mistake of filing that stupid lawsuit to his parents. He didn't want those memories drug back up.

Buck finally finished his story.

His parents looked resigned. They had definitely chewed him out for a bit. Buck took everything they threw at him. He gave it right back and asked them to see his side of it. It was his life; he had a great support system out in LA, even when it didn’t feel like it.

Not that he didn’t need his parents, he had just been so used to taking care of himself after he had left home at eighteen. He was still getting used to being able to rely on people for help when he needed it. They would have tried to drag him back to Pennsylvania which he didn’t want. His home was in Los Angeles. They understood his reasoning, but it upset them that he hadn't told them until this moment. Even if it was by accident. 

They asked him if he had ever tried therapy to help with everything; he had been through with his job till now.

There was no way he’d ever tell them about his first therapist. That was not something he wanted to drag them into. He had talked to Bobby about everything and then Bobby had made a formal complaint on his behalf.

She had also made a move on some of her other clients.

It had been a long time coming for her finally getting fired and getting her license revoked. She could not practice anymore.

Buck told them Bobby had recommended a therapist for him to work out all his issues. 

Buck now had a nice older gentleman named Greg as his therapist. He had been beneficial in understanding his past actions. He got along really well with Greg; it was more like catching up with an old friend.

But there were a few tears every now and again.

This time he felt like therapy was working for him.

Greg had helped him a lot in coming to terms with his feelings for Eddie.

For a long time, Buck was finding it hard to keep his feelings about Eddie to himself.

There were many times he had almost blurted out his feelings to Eddie, especially after escaping from burning buildings. There were a few moments where Buck had gotten jealous. He had nearly blown his own cover in those moments.

Greg helped him decide what to do next. As keeping his feelings to himself wasn’t working anymore.

Turns out they didn’t need to do anything.

Their next session was the morning after Buck and Eddie had finally gotten together, Buck had burst into Greg’s office vibrating with excitement ready to tell Greg all about finally getting to have his first date with Eddie.

Buck told them he had been going to therapy to help sort through all his emotions. He was becoming the best version of himself with the help of everyone around him.

After getting most things out in the open with his family, everything was calm. All the anger had been released; everyone had said what they needed to. Buck could finally let go of his guilt.

Hopefully, family dinner went a little better than their family argument just now.


	7. Family Dinner

The others had gotten back from their walk not long after Buck had finished talking with his parents, his eyes were red from the crying. Evelyn had tear tracks on her cheeks. Eddie sat down on the loveseat and pulled Buck into his arms and cradled Buck against his side. Christopher joined him by cuddling into Buck’s other side.

Later on, in the afternoon Noah and Evelyn got up and started to organize dinner. The rules of the house were each person had to pitch in and help with something for the meal. It was only fair. After Noah and Evelyn had planned the meal out, it was Buck and Eddie’s turn first to do some prep. Buck had definitely gotten better at cooking over the years thanks to Bobby's help. Eddie had to know how to cook, as he had been a single father for so long and he had to feed Christopher nutritious food. 

They could at least manage some peeling and dicing. They didn't have to fully cook for everyone today. 

Buck then tried to start a water fight with Eddie. Buck grabbed the kitchen spray nozzle and squirted Eddie in the face.

“What the fuck man!" Eddie spluttered. Wiping his face. Buck was cackling at Eddie’s reaction. Eddie turned around and grabbed Buck around the waist and stole the faucet out of Buck’s hands and turned it on Buck.

“Payback’s a bitch." Eddie didn’t just spray him in the face, he soaked Buck from head to toe.

“Babe, I thought you loved me." Buck wailed trying to get away from the stream of water.

“What is going on here!?" Evelyn stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

“Oh shit," Buck muttered under his breath.

The kitchen was a disaster, there were water puddles all over the floor, some food had gotten wet.

“He started it." They both blamed each other.

“Seriously _Mi Amor_ , you sprayed me first. I was just giving it right back. Every man for himself.” Eddie nudged Buck.

Evelyn did not look impressed. "I don't care who started it. Clean it up. Now."

Chimney then walked up behind Evelyn.

“Oh, come on, guys. Again?” Chimney complained.

“Again?" Evelyn asked confused.

“They do this all the time at work when they are put on dishes duty. It is always the same with them. Even before they started dating. They always made such a huge mess of the kitchen."

Buck and Eddie looked at each other sheepishly.

“Clean this up. Now." Evelyn demanded.

Buck grabbed some old towels to mop up the floor. Eddie grabbed the cloth and started wiping down the bench.

“You know I love you. But you are always asking for trouble."

Buck’s eyes twinkled mischievously. Buck knew exactly what Eddie was talking about. There were times he just got into a playful mood and didn’t really think of the aftermath until he had to do the clean-up.

“No more _Mi Amor_. I don’t want to be yelled at by your Mom again." Eddie gently kissed Buck brushed a hand down Buck’s cheek wiping the droplets of water that had clung to his skin away and went back to cleaning the kitchen.

Once the kitchen was clean, they finished prepping dinner. Ready for the next team of people to cook.

They walked back into the lounge and Christopher was sitting on Eli’s lap reading a book he had brought along on the trip.

“That is sweet." Eddie pulled out his phone and turned it on silent so the shutter wouldn’t go off when he took the photos. He managed to get a few before Eli looked up.

“Is the kitchen clean?" Eli joked.

“Yes, Dad. We cleaned up after ourselves." Buck flopped down onto the loveseat they had been sitting on earlier.

Buck lay down and rested his head on Eddie’s lap. The couch was a little cramped he had to hang his legs over the arm of the couch so he could fit.

Buck started drifting off, the gentle murmur of voices lulled him to sleep. Eddie was gently running his fingers through his hair. He was so relaxed.

He was woken up sometime later by Christopher resting a hand on his cheek.

“Bucky. Dinnertime."

His eyes fluttered open. Eddie was still sitting on the sofa with him. Everyone else had already made their way to the dining room.

Buck sat up and rubbed his eyes. He pressed kisses to both his boy’s foreheads.

Buck’s clothes were still a little damp, so he quickly rummaged through his suitcase for a new outfit and made his way to the bathroom to get changed.

By the time he made it into the dining room, there was one seat left, next to Eddie. Buck smiled and sat down.

The group at the table broke out into chatter. Chimney started to tell the story of Buck and Eddie’s first meeting.

“Buck was posturing and trying to intimidate Eddie." Buck groaned and sunk down in his seat.

“Chim. Really? You have to tell this story?" Buck grumbled.

“You were hilarious bud. Telling Eddie, he should respect his elders"” Chimney tried mimicking Buck’s voice from that day. There was laughter around the table.

“I didn’t mean it in the age sense. I just had been around the 118 longer than he had. It had taken time for everyone to take me seriously. You all just thought I was some dumb jock, with terrible impulse control. It took a while for me to actually feel like I was fitting in. Then this guy walks in."

“Evan wasn’t a jock. Why do people always assume you were a jock? That isn’t you at all." His Mom sounded confused. Buck shrugged and continued eating his dinner while his Dad begun explaining to Eddie, Chimney, and Christopher.

“Evan never played sports. He was more into the drama club, musical theatre, painting, and drawing. He was more of a creative than an athlete." Elijah spoke. He wasn’t one of those parents that forced their children into something they didn’t want to do; he didn’t care that his son wasn’t into sports.

He was proud of his son and the choices he had made. They went to as many of his performances until Evan graduated. Then after Evan graduated, he moved out and Elijah and Caroline moved to Chicago not long after.

“You never told me that," Eddie spoke gently. He was learning a lot about teenage Buck, things he never would have thought to tell the team.

“Ooh, where are your sketchbooks?" His Mom started to get out of her seat and go look for them.

“Mom. Maybe wait until after dinner." Buck insisted, looking down at everyone’s plates that still had a lot of food on them.

“Fine baby. But I will remember. I’m sure your boyfriend wants to see your artwork."

Maddie told stories of the ridiculous phone calls she would get over the 9-1-1 emergency line.

“People seem to think a stolen TV remote counts as an emergency. Turns out it wasn’t even stolen. It had just fallen down in between the couch cushions."

“I got a call once where a woman called asking if the tablespoon was the big spoon or little spoon."

“A man once asked if we could dispatch police to his home for assistance. His explanation was relationship problems. So here I was thinking domestic dispute. Turns out he just wanted the police to breakup with his girlfriend for him because he didn’t want to do it himself."

“Oh yeah. Athena told us about that call. She was the one who got called out to it. She laughed in his face, told him she wasn’t doing that and left."

“You weren’t a 9-1-1 operator yet, but we had this call where two idiot guys cemented a microwave onto their friend’s head for a YouTube video. The guy ended up panicking and stumbling into the pool. Buck and Eddie ended up jumping in after him to rescue him so he wouldn’t drown."

Being a firefighter in Los Angeles meant they got a lot of the crazies and many people who made dumb decisions.

Especially on a full moon. Or anytime alcohol was involved if not that, then it was more than likely drugs.

Or in that case for a viral video.

Or maybe even just stupidity.

People made dumb decisions and expected to be rescued when things went wrong.

Well, the video never got to see the light of day as Bobby threw the phone into the swimming pool.

“This happened a couple of days after Eddie started at the 118. He and Buck had finally sorted out their issues. All it took was working closely together to get a live grenade out of a man’s leg."

“Um, Chim. My parents didn’t know about the grenade." Buck trailed off.

“Oops." Chimney looked apologetic.

Buck and Eddie then had to tell his parents the whole story about the man who had shot a live grenade into his leg and how they had volunteered to get it out to save the man’s life as they didn’t have time to wait for the military to show up. Charlie had nicked his femoral artery and would have bled out if they had waited any longer. 

After the group had finished dinner, they were sitting around the table chatting while Evelyn went looking for Buck’s sketchbooks.

They moved back to the lounge where Maddie had found their family albums lying around. They were looking at pictures of Maddie and Buck growing up. There was a picture of nine-year-old Maddie holding her newborn baby brother.

Her Mom had explained to her when she was in her mid-teens why there was a bit of an age gap between her and Evan. It was only a nine-year age gap, but Evelyn wanted to explain the reasoning to Maddie.

Evelyn had said that she and Elijah had struggled to have Maddie at first. They had been best friends in High School and tried dating. They got married at the age of twenty.

They had started trying for children immediately. It had taken them almost seven years to have a successful full-term pregnancy where they ended up with Maddie. It had nearly torn them apart all the heartache and miscarriages they had previously to Maddie being conceived.

Maddie was their miracle baby.

Maddie was born to Evelyn and Elijah when Evelyn was 27 and Elijah was 28.

Once Maddie was a couple of years old, they tried to have another baby as they wanted Maddie to have a sibling.

Over the next few years Evelyn had gotten pregnant a few times, but not all of them had stuck.

Evelyn had lost their little girl Mia Grace at 28 weeks. 

After that Elijah and Evelyn had separated for a short time. It had been hard on them. They didn’t know how to handle it. Maddie would have barely remembered that time in her life if she remembered it at all. 

They went to couples therapy for a bit to work through it. Eight months after they separated, they wanted to try again. It had taken them a lot to get to this point. They would try one more time. If Evelyn got pregnant again, and it didn’t work this time. Then they would know that Maddie would be it for them.

Evelyn had miraculously gotten pregnant once again at 35. Evelyn and Elijah were waiting for heartbreak throughout her pregnancy. Once Evelyn had passed 28 weeks, they started to get hopeful.

Evan James Buckley was born on the 27th of June. He was born just over four weeks early at 36 weeks. He spent a week in the NICU making sure that there were no long-term issues. They kept a watchful eye on him for the first 24 hours to make sure he didn’t develop RDS.

Evan was a fighter.

By the time Evan was five years old, Evelyn and Elijah called it quits. They loved each other; they were best friends, but that wasn’t enough for them anymore. After everything they had been through with Evelyn’s struggles with pregnancy. It had led them to breaking point. They separated now before they began to resent each other more.

Evelyn then met Noah a year later. He had just arrived in Hershey and started working as a Science Teacher at Hershey High School.

They had met at a Teacher’s Conference out of state.

She had run into him one day on her way to a talk. Throughout the conference she kept running into him. They had exchanged numbers and found out they lived in the same city. 

She didn’t start dating him immediately. They were friends to start. Evelyn had been wary about jumping back into the dating pool after being with Elijah for so long. She didn’t know how long she had to wait until she could move on.

Her and Elijah hadn’t been divorced for very long. 

Evelyn and Elijah still raised Evan and Maddie together even though they were divorced.

Evelyn had sat down with Elijah. They had a long talk about when was the right time to move on and be happy.

Elijah had given his blessing for Evelyn to move on. All he wanted was for her to be happy. He would still be Maddie and Evan’s Dad; they’d just have another man in their lives.

Buck was seven when he was first introduced to Noah for the first time.

Noah had his own children from a previous marriage. Zoe and William, they were twins. They were a few years older than Maddie. They lived with their Mom in England.

Noah and his ex-wife had divorced when their kids were twelve.

They visited occasionally, but ultimately stayed in England with their Mom.

Noah made the trip to England a few times to see his kids.

On his last trip they hadn’t told him they had moved and changed their contact information. He hadn’t seen them since.

He was still trying to find them.

He hoped that one day they would reach out to him.

Elijah met Caroline when Evan was ten and Maddie had just married Doug.

Caroline had never been married prior to meeting Elijah. She was getting to the point in her life where she never knew if it would ever happen for her.

Having her own children wasn’t high on her priorities list, but once she had met Maddie and Evan, she had adored them from the start, even though it had taken Evan and Maddie some time to get used to her.

Elijah and Caroline married when Evan was eleven. Maddie was already off and married by that point, so Caroline didn’t get to see her as often.

They hadn't been as close, but they still got along really well.

Noah and Evelyn had been married for almost two years at that point.

_

The other photos left in the album were of Baby Evan in the NICU, Evelyn holding Evan for the first time, Elijah holding Evan for the first time. Evan trying to walk for the first time, his first day of school. Your typical milestone pictures.

Chimney had taken out his phone to snap a picture.

“Don’t you even dare." Buck commanded sternly. He knew Chimney would send pictures to Hen.

“But they are so adorable." Chimney joked.

“Found them!" Evelyn called. She came into the lounge with a stack of sketchbooks.

“You still have them all?" Buck reached for them. He hadn’t seen these in about ten years or maybe longer. The pages had aged a little, but the sketches were still in pristine condition.

Buck was actually an amazing artist. He had sketches and paintings in graphite, charcoal, terracotta charcoal, Indian ink, watercolours, oil paints. Almost every medium.

“Wow. These are stunning." Eddie ran his fingers down one sketch Buck had done of his Mom.

Buck had given Chimney permission to take photos to show the team, but not until they had gotten home so Buck could see the team’s reactions to this new information about Buck.

“Do you still draw?" Christopher asked Buck, he was looking at the drawings mesmerized.

“You should draw with me." Christopher demanded. Buck smiled shyly.

“I drew a lot while my leg was recovering, I didn’t have a lot to do besides physical therapy and binge-watch television, so I drew a lot. I think I went through a couple of sketchbooks."

“I took some photos of my favourite ones." The sketches were of Eddie and Christopher. There were a couple of Christopher by himself playing with his toys, meeting Santa.

“I don’t think I ever sent you this photo." Eddie couldn’t remember if he had or not. There was an amazing resemblance to his son, there was so much detail within the sketch.

“You didn’t. I drew that from memory."

They continued to look through Buck’s sketchbooks and the family photo albums. Chris started dozing on Elijah’s lap, they had been looking at photos of baby Buck. Eddie got up to take Chris to bed.

“I can take him, Elijah. What room is he in?" Eddie went to go pick up his son off Eli’s lap.

“Don’t be silly, you go sit down and relax. Let me take my grandson to bed." Elijah stood up and cradled Chris in his arms and made his way down the hall. Eddie’s heart melted, he was so grateful that Buck’s family was so accepting of him and Chris. They had immediately adopted them into the Buckley Clan. Christopher adored Buck’s family. He spent the afternoon sitting with Grandpa Eli, Buck’s Mom was Nana Evie. Chris had been tentatively working on the names for Noah and Caroline,

He had come up with Caroline was Amma and Noah was Poppa.

Buck and Eddie spent the rest of the evening cuddled up on the couch just relaxing, everyone else was doing their own thing. Chimney was having an in-depth conversation with Eli about paediatrics. Maddie was talking to Caroline and Noah about how their respective jobs were going.

Evelyn sat down next to Eddie and started to chat with him. Buck was mostly asleep against his shoulder.

“You are so good for him. Every time I’ve spoken to him, he is just so happy with you and Christopher."

“He’s my best friend. I’ve been so grateful to him for everything he has done for me and Chris. I don’t know what we’d do without him."

Buck smiled softly and squeezed him lightly.

They were the best for each other. It had taken them a long time to get here, but there isn’t much that he would change about their friendship. Besides them needing to communicate a lot more. Not communicating caused a lot of misunderstandings and heartbreak.

Eddie definitely wanted to talk properly to Buck about it being time Christopher calling him Papa. He felt they were ready; they had been fully committed to each other from the start of their friendship.

He felt it was about time.


	8. Heart to Heart

“ _Mi Amor_. You are falling asleep. Maybe you should head on off to bed." Eddie whispered in his ear quietly. Running his fingers gently through Buck’s hair.

Buck nodded sleepily in agreement. He pulled himself off the couch and made his way around the house saying goodnight to everyone. Evelyn pointed him toward a guest room upstairs.

Buck lugged his and Eddie’s bags up the stairs and made his way to one of the guest rooms that used to be his childhood bedroom through till his teen years. His Mom had redecorated it years ago after he had moved out. There was a Queen bed in the centre of the room with navy blue bedding and white sheets. There were dark wood bedside tables on either side of the bed. The walls were a shade of white with a navy-blue trim.

Buck changed into his pajamas and made his way to the bathroom down the hall to wash his face and brush his teeth. By the time he made it back, Eddie was in the room sifting through his suitcase looking for his pajamas.

“Bathroom’s free, Babe."

Eddie jumped.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you." Buck kissed Eddie’s cheek and then climbed into the bed. Buck claimed the right side of the bed. Eddie always preferred the side closest to the door. He leant the pillows up against the headboard and sat up, waiting for Eddie to come in.

He plugged his and Eddie’s phones in to charge. He had no messages. There were random notifications from Instagram and his Email, but nothing too important so he cleared them away.

Eddie came into the room and turned off the light switch and he crawled into bed next to him.

“Can I talk to you about something? It is nothing bad I promise _Mi Amor._ It has just been something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately."

Anxiety clenched in Buck’s gut. Even though Eddie had declared it was nothing bad, he still thought the worst. He always had anxiety. He knew he seemed like the impulsive type, but after every action, he over thought every part of his decision. What could he have done differently? How badly did his decision impact those around him?

“Ok," Buck spoke quietly. He moved closer to Eddie. He wanted to feel him against his own body. He just wanted to feel safe and loved. Eddie gave him that. He always had.

“Babe. I promise it is good. How would you feel if Christopher started calling you Papa?"

Buck’s heart stopped, then started again. Double time. His eyes welled up with tears.

“What?" He croaked. He must have misheard there was no way he heard that properly.

“Christopher and I have been talking about this quite a lot lately. I didn’t want to catch you off guard, but I can see that I have. You have done so much for us over the last few years. You became our family. I don’t know if you realized it, but we have been co-parenting him for a long time, long before we even started dating. Yes, we had the miscommunication after the lawsuit and with everything that had led on from that, but we are passed that we’ve forgiven each other for everything, and Christopher so badly wants you to be his other dad. He’s been calling you Papa in his head for months; he’s almost slipped up a few times. I just wanted to know how you felt about it. Co-parenting with you makes it easier, you help lift the additional weight off my shoulders, you fit so seamlessly into our lives and I just want that to continue with you being Papa and me Dad."

Buck was quietly sobbing. He had buried his face into Eddie’s chest. He was sucking in harsh breaths. This was happening. He had always considered Christopher to be his, but he never wanted to overstep. He had held his heart from the very beginning. He had him wrapped around his little finger and he knew it. He knew he had wanted this, but he hadn’t realized he had wanted this so badly; he hadn’t realized that Eddie and Christopher had wanted it, too. He was so overwhelmed. He was filled with so many emotions; they were all bursting from him all at once.

Buck nodded into Eddie’s chest. He couldn’t calm himself down. He was too overwhelmed with all the emotions going through him.

“Yeah?" Eddie breathed.

“Yeah. I would love that." He hiccupped. Eddie swiped the tears from under Buck’s eyes and brought their lips together.

“Thank you. I was kinda terrified that you’d say no."

“Why would I say no? I can never say no to that kid." Buck joked, wetly. He was still crying _._

_After everything they had been through Eddie still wanted him to be a father to his son._

He must have said that part out loud.

“Our son. I know you claimed him as yours a long time ago."

“Yeah I did. I just never wanted to overstep."

“You definitely are not overstepping. We are asking you. We are asking you to take us as we are. We have little else to give you, just ourselves. Together we all have each other and that is all we need, and we are giving ourselves to you,"

“And now your parents have claimed him as their grandson. I think you are stuck with us now."

“No, that means you are stuck with us."

_

Maddie and Chimney were settling in for the evening. Everyone else had gone off to bed. Maddie and Chimney had gotten the room across from Buck and Eddie’s. They had gone to bed a bit before everyone else.

At least there weren’t any unsavoury sounds coming from their room.

Maddie had just washed her face and brushed her teeth. Luckily, she had put no makeup on this morning. Chimney had come in and started brushing his teeth after getting changed into his pajamas.

They hopped into the bed in the now what was the second guest room, this room used to be hers when she was growing up, it hadn’t changed all that much. It was still painted white with an olive-green trim. The paint had been touched up as the years would have faded the colour. There was a Queen bed with olive green bedding and white sheets. With the same dark wood furniture as there was in Buck’s old bedroom that was now the other guest room.

Maddie cuddled into Chimney’s chest. They had turned off the lights and settled in.

“I know it has been a couple of years since we spoke about this, but how do you feel about finally trying for a baby. I don’t know how much longer I’d be able to have children. Or if I’d be able to at all. Mom struggled to have me and Evan. It took them years." Maddie spoke softly. She couldn’t really see Chimney’s reaction in the dark. She wanted the chance to be a mother, she hoped Chimney felt the same. A couple of years ago they were a firm, maybe. Someday.

“I think we’ve grown up enough. We are on more solid footing than we were a couple of years ago. I think we should. Maybe just not start trying here." Chimney joked. She understood what he meant. She definitely didn’t feel comfortable trying for a baby with her parents and stepparents in the house. Also, Buck and Eddie across the hall from them. That would be way too awkward. 

“Once we get home." They both agreed.

They had talked about it a while ago about moving in together. They had been looking at homes to buy but everything was just so expensive in Los Angeles. She still had most of that money from her marital assets with Doug, but she didn’t know how she felt about using it to buy a house.

For now, they both still had time until their respective leases ran out. They would start looking a lot more seriously once they were back in LA.

“I didn’t have much luck in the romance department a few years back. You know about Tatiana and everything that happened with her. I jumped in headfirst with some of my decisions with her and they backfired, majorly. How would you feel about getting married again? I don’t mean now. I’ll ask you when you least expect it. I just wanted to know how you felt about it before I put a plan into motion."

Maddie listened to Chimney speak, if he had asked her when they first started dating how she felt about getting married again, she would’ve responded with how she didn’t want to put herself through that again. She knew Chimney was the opposite of Doug; she knew he would do nothing to harm her. Now she could see herself marrying Chimney. He made her happy and accepted all her flaws.

“If you had asked me a couple of years ago, I don’t think I could have put myself through that again. But that was then. We have been through so much together, it has brought us closer together, so whenever you are to ask me. I guess I’ll just have to say yes."

She could feel Chimney smile against her hair.

“I’ll just have to find a way to surprise you then."

“Can’t wait." She whispered and gently kissed him. She curled up against him and closed her eyes. Chimney’s arms tightened around her.

“Good night." He whispered.


	9. Let's Go On A Hike

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has almost reached 60k words since I have been editing is only a few hundred words away. Since I still have the rest of the story still to edit it think it will end up being 60k. 
> 
> And to think to start with my word goal was 25k. 
> 
> Thank you all for your support. I will try to get two chapters out per day. If not, it will be a chapter per day. Depending if anything comes up.

Buck awoke to the sound of the bedroom door opening. He felt the bed shift and a small body crawl up the bed and settle themselves next to him.

“Mmm. Hey buddy." Buck wrapped his arm around Christopher’s body and pulled him to his chest.

Eddie had wrapped himself around Buck's back with his arm curled across Buck’s abdomen, still asleep.

Christopher looked down shyly, his mouth opened then closed a few times. He wanted to say something but didn’t know how to say it.

“What’s going on little man?" Buck asked cradling Chris tighter to him.

“Can I call you Papa?" He whispered. Buck had to strain to hear him, even though Chris was right up against his body. 

Even though Buck had been expecting it. It still stunned him. He felt his heart stop, then start up again. He felt like it would beat right out of his chest. 

Buck then felt a tear roll down his own cheek.

His heart felt as if it was too big for his chest. He was too emotional. 

Buck let out a sob. Christopher froze and tried to pull himself out of Buck’s embrace and more than likely take himself out of the room. Buck held Christopher tighter to him.

“Sorry baby, I’m not crying 'cause you made me sad. You’ve made me so happy. I love that you want me to be your Papa."

Christopher put his hand against Buck’s cheek and wiped his tears away. Buck pressed a kiss to Christopher’s forehead and hugged him tightly. He could feel Eddie shift behind him.

“When did he get here?" Eddie rasped. He was blinking rapidly trying to wake himself up more.

“You missed a lot." Buck turned his head and brushed his lips against Eddie’s. The redness of Buck’s eyes startled Eddie.

“Is everything ok?" Eddie asked anxiously.

“Everything is perfect." Buck smiled. He shifted Chris, so he was lying in between the two of them. They snuggled back into bed and made themselves comfortable under the covers and dozed back off.

_

There was a click of a camera shutter. Buck opened one eye and saw his Mom standing grinning at the little family lying in bed together.

“Morning." Buck sat up and rubbed his eyes. His boys were still resting. He dragged himself out of bed to help his Mom with making breakfast.

Down in the kitchen, Chimney was already awake sitting at the dining room table sipping at a mug of coffee.

“Morning Chim." Buck started pulling pans out of the cupboards while his Mom pulled out the ingredients for breakfast.

He started making a big batch of scrambled eggs for everyone.

“Morning Buckaroo. I’m grateful Maddie and I heard nothing distasteful out of you and Eddie last night," Chimney teased.

“I’m also surprised none of us have walked in on you both going at it at the station I’m sure there have been a few near misses."

Buck’s face flamed, and he dropped the spatula onto the floor in shock.

“Chim." He hissed. From the corner of his eye, he could see his Mom’s shoulder’s shaking.

“Mom.," He whined. “are you laughing at me?"

“No baby. Of course not." She snickered. 

“Why would you think we would even do that here?" Buck looked really uncomfortable. He didn’t need his parents knowing anything about his and Eddie’s sex life. 

“I also don’t need my parents knowing about my sex life thank you very much. They probably don’t want to know about it either." Buck shuddered. Evelyn was laughing, it sounded more like wheezing at this point.

“Baby. It is perfectly natural."

“Yeah, but I don’t go asking about yours and Noah’s sex life." Buck shuddered pulling a face in disgust.

“Evan, we are all adults here."

“Adults that don’t need to know about each other’s sex lives. Chimney, I don’t want to hear anything about you and my sister. If I do. I’ll disown you."

“How are you going to disown me exactly?" Chimney laughed in disbelief.

“I just will."

“Ok, ok, talking about everyone’s sex lives is definitely off the table." Evelyn had pulled herself together, sort of. Still an occasional laugh slipped out.

“What’s going on." Eddie and Christopher walked into the kitchen. Christopher saw that Buck’s cheeks were flushed.

“Papa are you sick?" Chris made his way over to Buck. Buck lifted him into his arms, Chris cupped his cheeks and looked into his eyes.

Chimney’s mug froze halfway to his mouth. His Mom watched the pair with a gentle smile on her face. She had definitely stopped laughing now.

“Yeah Babe, I’m Ok. I’m not sick. Chimney just thinks he’s being funny, and Nana Evie has been agreeing with him." Buck held onto Chris while he continued to make the scrambled eggs.

“Christopher sweetheart. What did you want to drink?" Evelyn asked the boy who still resided in her son’s arms.

“Can I have a hot chocolate please, Nana Evie." Buck looked over at his Mom, who looked like her heart had just melted, Christopher had definitely stolen everyone’s hearts.

“Of course, sweet boy." Evelyn got out a saucepan and started making her secret recipe hot chocolate, that she had been making since Maddie was little.

Elijah walked into the dining room and sat down. Eddie handed him a mug of coffee.

“Oh, finally coffee." He muttered. Slowly Noah and Caroline trickled into the kitchen, they each sat at the table and grabbed a mug of coffee.

“Where’s Maddie?" Evelyn asked. Right as the sentence came out of Evelyn’s mouth, Maddie walked in looking refreshed and dressed and looking more like a human being than anyone else in the room.

“Right here." She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Caroline. Buck and Evelyn finished making breakfast for everyone. The group dug in. No-one was really talking; people were still trying to wake themselves up.

“What is the plan for this weekend?" Eddie spoke up.

“It is supposed to be a nice day today, I thought we’d go for a hike. Eddie before you say anything, I can piggyback Chris." Buck answered. He could see Eddie open his mouth to say Christopher would struggle on a hike.

“Evan, you don’t have to carry him by yourself." His Dad piped up from across the table.

“The path is pretty flat, he’ll be able to walk some of it, but we’ll definitely all help. No Buckley left behind. We have each other’s backs." His Mom spoke to Eddie gently.

Even though Buck and Eddie weren’t married, yet. It seemed his Mom considered Chris, Chimney, and Eddie to be honorary Buckley’s. If Buck ended up marrying Eddie, which he definitely wanted to.

He wanted to combine their last names to be Buckley-Diaz.

When his parents divorced, she ended up keeping her last name Buckley, but just added her maiden name, Mason. So legally she was Evelyn Mason-Buckley. Noah understood why she didn’t take his last name, instead, he had taken her hyphenated family name.

The plan was after breakfast, everyone would have an hour to get ready then they’d head out in the separate cars and go off to one of the nearby flat hiking trails. It turned out it took them over an hour to get ready; they had to share the two bathrooms. Everyone had to have quick showers. Maddie probably got the longest shower out of all of them since she had one while they were all in the dining room.

The hike wasn’t a long one, but they'd be out until lunchtime, maybe after lunch. If the weather stayed fine. Evelyn and Caroline packed a small lunch for the group and a few water bottles to share around.

Buck tied the laces on his boots and went to help pack the cars. Buck zipped up his jacket, as there was a bit of a chill. That would go away once they started hiking.

Everyone piled out of the house and into the cars. They were headed a short drive away to a park that didn’t have any rough terrain. Christopher wanted to at least walk on his own for a bit. Buck volunteered to piggyback Christopher first, Chris would let him know when he wanted to try walking on his own.

Evelyn and Chimney took up leading the pack, they walked together chatting while the rest of the group followed behind. Buck crouched down to let Chris onto his back.

“Let’s go Superman." Buck jogged lightly as to not jostle Chris too much as he caught up to his Dad who was chatting to Maddie.

He walked beside his Dad and sister while Christopher filled the open air with chatter about his school and friends. Chris had his arms gently wound around Buck’s neck, while Buck holding onto Chris’ legs.

“Being a parent is a good look for you." His Dad spoke from beside him. Maddie voiced her agreement.

Buck had definitely seemed to slip into parenthood rather seamlessly. Christopher definitely made it easy.

Buck could definitely agree he had grown up a lot in the last few years. Abby helped start the change in him, but he definitely owed it to Eddie and Christopher. They helped him to be a better man; he didn’t like who he used to be looking back on it.

Meeting Eddie and Christopher changed his life for the better.

Both Buck and Eddie had realised that they had been co-parenting Christopher the entire time. They had both realised and had just said nothing.

They were dumb.

They needed to communicate more. 

Buck now went to Parent/Teacher meetings along with Eddie, the school pickup when Eddie wasn’t able to get there on time, he helped Christopher with his homework. He was trying to help relieve some stress off Eddie by helping with Christopher. He was trying not to overstep too much and take over completely from Eddie. Eddie was Christopher’s dad. He was just Eddie’s boyfriend, turns out he had nothing to worry about.

After his and Eddie’s conversation last night and Chris calling him Papa this morning, he had felt more comfortable in his own skin.

He knew his place now; he didn’t have to keep second-guessing himself.

_

Chimney was walking further ahead of the group with Evelyn. She had an arm looped around his and was chatting away to him. He wanted to get up the courage to ask Evelyn for her blessing to marry Maddie. He needed to talk to Elijah, but he was at the back of the pack with Buck, Christopher and Maddie. Christopher was slung across Buck’s back and Maddie walking alongside.

He would just have to pull Eli aside later. Hopefully, he’d get a chance soon. He definitely wanted to get his opinion before they left to head back to LA.

He didn’t know how to start the conversation, Evelyn paused in her chatting.

“How are we doing Chimney?" She asked sweetly. She squeezed his arm and pulled him along.

“I want to ask Maddie to marry me. I just wanted to know what you thought." He spoke lowly, he didn’t want the others to pick up on their conversation.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Evelyn’s mouth twitch up into a grin.

“Well, Maddie is an adult who can make her own decisions, but I would love to call you my son-in-law. We all already love you. Evan has definitely been one of your biggest cheerleaders. He has been talking about you for years. Not long after he started at the 118, we started hearing about you all. He would speak about you all as a family, but then he began to single each of you out and talk about you all fondly. You all each have a special place in his heart. I don’t know what he’d do without you all. We are grateful you’ve been such a great friend to him since he started at the 118. He has said you would be the person he would have wanted as an older brother. We all would definitely love it if you officially became part of our family."

Chimney started to get choked up. He knew that Buck had felt that way about him. After everything with the lawsuit, they had sat down and discussed everything. How Buck had been feeling about everything and why he did it. No one would hear him out. He wasn’t doing it to spite them. He was doing it because he wanted to get back to doing what he loved with whom he loved. He had never meant to hurt anyone with his decisions. He just wanted to show everyone how hurt he was by them leaving him behind.

He had never held a grudge against Buck for deciding to sue Bobby, the Station, and the LAFD. During the Arbitration, Buck’s lawyer had definitely come up with some fair points. He knew that Buck had been hurt by being left behind. He admitted that they should have done more for Buck. Chimney saw that he was pulling away, but they had done nothing to talk to him about it. No wonder Buck sued them; he must have felt so alone in it all. He had tried so hard to get back to them and Bobby had just thrown it back in his face saying Buck wasn’t ready when it wasn’t even up to him. Bobby had never tried to talk to Buck about everything before it all went down. They all had some communication issues.

Once he and Buck had gotten everything out in the open, they had become closer. They were even better friends than they were before. Buck was like his dorky little brother who he couldn’t help but adore. They would go out just the two of them at least once and month and hang out. Go to a bar and have a couple of drinks, they even went bowling a few times. Buck had already given Chimney his approval about his relationship with Maddie a long time ago. He had told him it was a little weird to start with, but he could see that they made each other happy and that was all he wanted for the two of them.

He needed to talk to Buck about marrying his sister.

Caroline caught up with them and started to give Chimney some tips after he had asked her about keeping his fitness levels up. He was already fit, but he wanted to keep up with his team.

He didn’t want to bulk up as Buck had. After Buck’s recovery, he put back on all the weight he had lost and bulked up a lot more. He was looking happy and healthy. Chimney wanted to be in fighting shape, so he didn’t lag behind his team.

Caroline talked about how she had helped Buck get into shape when he wanted to go for the SEALS. It definitely helped to have a personal trainer in the family. Every so often she would send him updated fitness regimes to help him with his fitness goals.

After Buck had dropped out of the SEALS, she helped with a regime to get him ready for the CPAT.

Caroline explained to Chimney she didn’t always want to be a personal trainer. She started off studying accounting. It wasn’t until she had married Eli that she wanted a career change. She got herself into serious shape and started off studying a Diploma in Health, Fitness and Exercise Instruction. Caroline then studied further and got a second Diploma in Personal Training.

She got herself a job at a gym and worked her way up to become a personal trainer she was still learning as she went. She would keep an open mind about everything and anything. She had a large range of clients she worked with, people with all different goals. She had another client that was a firefighter (that wasn’t Evan) with the CFD; she had Moms trying to get back into shape after having children, there was also a doctor fitting in a session between shifts, mostly just people wanting motivation to get themselves into shape.

She was thinking of retiring in the next few years and enjoying life with Elijah after he also retired from Paediatrics.

It was interesting listening to Caroline talk about her job; she gave him some diet tips. He had to admit he was a bit slack with his diet. He and Maddie should probably stop Buff Fridays. Maybe learn to cook a little better. At this point Buck was a better cook than him, he had his cooking lessons with Bobby after all.

The trail they were walking down was a gravel path which was surrounded by trees, he looked back at the rest of the group: Eddie was chatting to Noah, Maddie and Buck were walking close together, Elijah and Christopher were dawdling together. Eli had a firm grip on Christopher’s hand as they walked side by side. He was chatting away to his new Grandpa; it was sweet how quickly he had attached himself to Maddie and Buck’s parents as new Grandparents; all four of them. He had even come up with cute names for them all. He had them wrapped around his little finger already.

They had walked a couple of miles when they took a break. Buck was sipping out of one of the water bottles they had brought then passed it down to Christopher and let him take a drink, his legs were probably tired, he walked a fair distance on his own with a little support from Eli.

“Hi, Chimney." Christopher came and sat down beside him on the grass. Chris leant up against him. 

“I need to try beat you at pinball, you keep beating my score." He teased Chris. He loved it when Eddie brought his son to the fire station. Everyone definitely got distracted every time, but he brought so much joy to the firehouse. They had some bad calls in the past and as soon as Chris walked into the room, the mood lifted, Christopher brought out the best in people. 

“Have you beat your Papa at any video games? His ego needs to be taken down a peg or two."

“Daddy always beats him at Street Fighter." He whispered as if he was betraying a deep secret. 

Chimney snorted. Eddie would always beat Buck at video games. Buck got competitive with most things. Which is probably why he tried to show up Eddie when he first arrived at the 118.

“Hey, Superman." Maddie came and sat down next to the pair of them. 

“Hi, Maddie."

‘I definitely want one’ She mouthed over Christopher’s head. He grinned. He couldn’t wait to start their own little family.

Buck lay down next to them on the grass. “I need a nap." He closed his eyes. 

“Buckaroo, you didn’t even walk that far. Your daily workouts are more than this." He teased. 

They lay around on the grass for a bit longer; they had a small lunch that they had packed then headed back to the cars. The sky was looking ominous. It worried them it would rain before they got back to the cars.

Christopher was on Noah’s back for the first part of the hike back. Buck was walking with Caroline at the head of the pack, they were walking quickly. They seemed like they were trying to outdo each other. Maddie was walking with her Mom and Eddie. Chimney decided he would hang back with Eli and try to talk to him about getting his blessing.

“How long have you been a paramedic Chimney?"

“Almost sixteen years. I joined the LAFD back in 2005, and my childhood best friend Kevin joined up alongside me. Before this I had been stuck in a rut, I was bouncing around jobs, nothing fit. Kevin let me work at the Karaoke bar he managed. There was a fire one evening that burnt the place down. After that, I decided I wanted to be a firefighter. We ended up at different Stations, me at the 118 and him at the 133. I had a horrible time of it when I started, they never allowed me out on calls. I spent my days doing grunt work, practicing getting into my turnout gear, studying. Until one day a fellow firefighter took pity on me and took me along. I had never been puked on or bled on that much before,"

“I ended up enjoying being a paramedic so much that I continued studying to become a full-fledged firefighter paramedic. It wasn’t long after that, that I lost my best friend. We were called out to a burning building, that a few other stations were also at. Kevin sacrificed himself by pushing a pregnant woman out of the way of a collapsing roof. I didn’t know how to move on from that. I kept pushing myself to be a better paramedic and making my best friend proud. Our Captain at the time had finally gotten fired after everyone made complaints against him, we got our new Captain. Bobby. Bobby has been the best Captain we’ve had, he definitely keeps an eye out for all of us, especially your boy there."

Eli had a newfound respect for Chimney. He seemed to love Maddie immensely. Chimney wasn’t the sort of man he would have picked out for his daughter on sight. But they fit well together. He made her happy. After everything with Doug all he wanted was to see his baby happy. She had so much joy in her life now; she was happier than she had been with Doug.

When she had married Doug at a young age, he worried about her, there wasn’t anything they could do to stop her once she had her mind made up.

“I know you don’t know me very well, but just know that I am so in love with Maddie and would do nothing to purposefully harm her. I was wondering if I could have your blessing to marry her. We’ve spoken about marriage and it is something we both want; it won’t be now. But I hope it will be soon." 

Eli listened to Chimney ask for his blessing. His baby girl would get married again. From what he knew of Chimney, he is definitely a good man who treats his daughter well. Evan seems to also love him. He’s heard the stories from Evan when he first started at the 118. Chimney was one of the first people who really took the time to get to know his son.

“Welcome to the family. I think you’ll fit right in."


	10. Family Game Night

They hurried back to the cars. It didn’t take them as long to get there. As they got closer to the cars, the skies got darker. It would rain, and soon. Eddie now had Christopher clinging to his back as they jogged back to the cars.

“Hold on tight." He didn’t want to jostle him too much. He could see the cars up ahead. He felt some light rain on his skin. Buck and Caroline were already waiting by the cars, everyone else was catching up. 

Buck’s family was definitely fit.

Evelyn unlocked the car, and Eddie quickly put his son in the car first before he got soaked. He didn’t care about himself getting wet. Buck was already seated in the passenger seat next to his Mom. Eddie hopped in the back next to his son.

They were driving back to Evelyn and Noah’s house when it started bucketing down. Evelyn took the roads slower as they were wet.

“Luckily we made it into the cars on time." Eddie quipped looking out the car window. 

The forecast for the rest of the day and evening was rain. It was definitely an indoor evening. They would have to leave the exploring of Pennsylvania until tomorrow. They had some tentative plans that Buck, and Maddie wanted the show him and Chimney and Christopher.

They pulled up to the house, and they bolted out of the car and into the house. They left the bags from the hike in the car until the rain stopped. There was no point in getting more soaked than necessary getting everything out of the cars.

Eddie went to the guest room to take off his boots and jacket. Buck brought him in a towel so he could dry off his hair. When they made their way into the lounge Maddie and Chimney were curled up on one loveseat under a blanket, cuddled up. Christopher was cuddled up with Evelyn under a blanket and she was reading him a story. Elijah was reading the newspaper. Caroline and Noah were in the kitchen making hot chocolate for everyone.

Buck flopped down onto the other loveseat. There was a blanket folded over one arm. Eddie followed suit and sat next to Buck. He pulled the blanket over the two of them and moved in closer to share body warmth. The temperature had dropped, the hot chocolate would definitely help warm them up. Buck was scrolling through his phone. He started tapping out a message.

“Bobby is just checking in." Buck answered his unspoken question. 

“How is the 118 doing without us?" Chimney joked. Buck typed out Chimney’s question and sent it to Bobby. 

**Tell Chimney, Hen is having fun without him.**

Eddie laughed at Bobby’s reply.

“What?" Chimney looked over curiously. 

“Seems to me like Hen is having fun without you Chim. I think she is enjoying your substitute." Buck teased. Chimney looked put out and pulled out his own phone. He was probably messaging Hen. 

_Be warned, Bobby. Chimney is texting Hen. I think he is a little jealous._

Buck sent back. Their extended family was insane. They had created a weird little family at the 118; they were actually a little co-dependent. Chimney sat pouting. Maddie was laughing at Chim’s reaction. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and his lips twitched into a smile. He tried to keep pouting, but he couldn’t help it.

Caroline brought over a couple of mugs to him and Buck.

“Thank you, Caroline." Eddie murmured gratefully. The mug warmed his hands immediately. 

Buck sent through a picture of almost everyone sat in the lounge.

**Family time looks riveting...**

Eddie shook his head and smiled. Buck typed back his reply.

_We just got back from hiking. It started raining._

Eddie sipped at his hot chocolate while Buck texted his 118-Dad. Buck already had a great relationship with his biological father and his stepfather. Buck was lucky he had three Dads who cared for him greatly.

Eddie listened to Evelyn reading the story to Christopher. The gentle murmur of her voice was lulling him to sleep. He tried to keep his eyes open. He took another sip of his drink to keep himself awake. He didn’t have much left in his mug. He quickly finished the drink and place the mug on the side table. He rested his head against Buck’s shoulder and closed his eyes. The peacefulness of the room helped settle him into a restful sleep.

_

Chimney looked over at Buck and Eddie and saw that the pair had fallen asleep leaning against each other. Chimney took a photo of the pair and sent it to the 118 group chat.

They used the group chat a lot before Buck and Eddie started dating; they were placing bets on how long it would take the boys to get together. It had taken them longer than expected. No-one had been surprised when they finally announced their relationship to the team.

There was still a bet about the couple. Who would be the one to propose? Chimney was torn, it literally could be either one. Buck was more gun-shy. Chimney knew he didn’t want to overstep or insert himself too far into Eddie and Christopher’s lives, Chimney could see he was still holding himself back a little.

It was too late now. Their lives were so intertwined, you couldn’t find Buck without Eddie or vice versa.

Chimney had placed his bet down for Eddie being the one to propose. He didn’t think it would be too far down the track. Buck and Eddie already seemed to have had the co-parenting conversation. Going by this morning, it surprised him when he heard Christopher so bluntly call Buck, Papa. But it also didn’t surprise him. It was only a matter of time before it happened.

Buck still wasn’t used to his new title. It was heart-warming to see Buck in the parental role. It suited him; he had always loved children.

Buck had changed so much in the almost five years he had known him. Buck always seemed to live his life to the fullest, he loved his job; he had a lot of casual hookups, some decisions he made were impulsive, but Buck brought a new dynamic to the team that he didn’t know they needed.

Eddie was just the final piece. They all had a pivotal role in the team. When one member was missing, they could feel the emptiness.

Their team was finally complete.

_

They had just finished dinner and were settled into the lounge. The plan was to have a family game night. They were starting with Pictionary. They would play in groups of three. They put everyone’s name into a ‘hat’ and drew out the teams.

On one team there was Noah, Maddie, and Buck. Team two was Christopher, Eli, and Evelyn. Team three was Eddie, Caroline and Chimney.

“And Evan. No cheating." His Mom pointed a finger at him. 

“How!?" Buck sounded offended. Maddie shoved her brother. 

In the basement Evelyn had stored whiteboards. She had brought them as spares for her classroom for days she had other activities planned, but more often than not they were used for family game nights. She had set the three medium-sized whiteboards at the front of the room on stands. There was a selection of whiteboard markers ready to be used.

“Are they actually whiteboard markers this time Evelyn?" Eli joked. Before Maddie had met Doug and before Elijah had met Caroline, they used to have family game night with just the four of them. Occasionally Noah would join them, but it didn’t happen as often. 

There was one time where Evelyn accidentally used a permanent marker on one of the whiteboards, it was now a running joke with the family.

“Who’s up first?" A player from each team had to go up and draw something. Every player had the same thing to draw. The first team to guess right wins a point. 

Buck got up and made his way to the far-left whiteboard. Eli got up from their team and Eddie from his team.

“You’re going down, Babe." Buck teased Eddie. 

“Can you actually draw properly on a whiteboard?" Eddie taunted. 

“Guys seriously. Can we just play the game?" Chimney yelled at the two idiots. 

Eli picked up a card and showed it to the other two. They had to draw a beach; they had 30 seconds.

“Ready. Go." Evelyn flipped the hourglass, and the men picked up a whiteboard pen and started drawing.

“Squiggle."

“Water."

“What the hell is that Buck?"

“Sand."

“Beach," Chris called out. 

Buck groaned and put his pen down. His beach didn’t look much like a beach. He tried to rush draw waves and sand it didn’t turn out how he thought he had been drawing it. Eddie’s drawing wasn’t much better. His Dad’s looked a lot more coherent. No wonder Chris managed to interpret Elijah's picture.

When Buck and Eddie's separate images looked like a jumbled mess. 

“Ha. One point for us."

Noah went up for their team next, Christopher for team two and Chimney for team three. Noah pulled a card and showed it to the others.

“Go."

“Rectangle."

“Door."

Christopher drew a door quicker than the others.

“Damn Buck our son is creaming us."

“Babe we’re on different teams."

“No consorting with the enemy Eddie." Chimney pulled back Eddie’s attention to their team. 

Maddie, Evelyn, and Caroline went up next. Eddie was right though they were getting creamed by Chris’ team.

Maddie’s drawing was a bit easier to follow.

“Boat," Buck called. She shook her head and kept drawing. 

“Yacht."

“Ferry."

“Canoe."

“Raft."

Eddie then called out. “Ship."

Buck’s team was losing. They were not doing great.

The game went on for a few more rounds Team Buck, Maddie and Noah were on 2 points. Evelyn, Noah, and Christopher were on 4 points and Chimney Eddie and Caroline were on three. There was a lot of laughter, playful teasing, some interesting drawing interpretations. They had to censor themselves a few times. Mostly it was Buck who had to censor himself. Buck’s filter almost failed him a few times but caught himself before blurting them out. This was the child-friendly version, he had to watch himself around Christopher.

Christopher seemed to be having fun being on a team with his newly christened grandparents. 

They next played Charades, that was a disaster waiting to happen. Somehow Buck cheated, he got a bit of a scolding from his Mom.

Everyone was having a great time. They tried to do these game nights with the 118 crew, but they couldn’t do it as often as they liked. It wasn’t often that they had the same days off.

To start with, Eddie was a little hesitant he didn’t want Christopher to be left behind while they played these games, but Evelyn and Eli made sure Christopher was included in every game and that his voice was heard. It made him appreciate Buck’s parents a lot more. They were just so accepting.

When he had first met them individually over the phone, he was nervous; he wasn’t sure how Buck’s parents would take that he was dating a man. A man who was also a single father. They didn’t even bat an eyelid. If anything, they were more grateful to him, for accepting Buck into his and Chris’ lives. Buck’s family was nothing like his own. He adored his own family; they were a bit different culturally, down the track he hoped they’d be able to do a blended family reunion. With his family and Buck’s family.

His family already loved Buck. Buck would have cooking mornings occasionally with his Abuela. Buck had already met his parents at the end of his Probation Ceremony. They hadn’t seen each other since, but they would video chat together with Eddie and Christopher. It was harder to get time to go to El Paso. Eddie would have to try make time to take Buck and Christopher to El Paso to visit. They’d get to it, hopefully sometime soon.

His parents had accepted his relationship with Buck, tentatively. They took a while to get used to him dating another man. Once they found out Christopher adored him, they slowly started to accept it.

They didn’t realize to start with that he was talking about Buck who he worked with. When he spoke to his parents about Buck, he would talk about him using his first name Evan. Once Eddie told them that Evan was Buck, they had understood. You couldn’t help but love Buck. He was a kind and gentle man with a big heart. Who loved his friends and family deeply, especially Eddie and Christopher.

Like Buck, he came out as Bisexual as a late teen, since living in Texas it took his parents some time to come to terms with his sexuality. When he had married Shannon, he could tell his parents were relieved a little bit that there was a chance that he’d just stick to women.

After Shannon died, it took a long time for him to accept that he had already moved on from her long before they had tried their relationship again. He had felt guilty for a long time about it. It took him a long time to accept that they didn’t try their relationship again for themselves; they had done it for Christopher. Shannon had also moved on, but they had forced themselves into a relationship that neither of them wanted in the end.

After Shannon asked for a divorce. He felt free and excited. He was ready to move on with the next part of his life. Then Shannon died. Eddie held himself back from moving on. He felt for a long time that it would taint her memory. His therapist Frank had definitely helped him come to terms with everything.

He had finally fully moved on and was happy with how his life had turned out.

They settled back in for the last game of the night. Everyone had to put their cell phones into a box, then those were left in the kitchen so no-one could cheat. It wouldn’t have been fair as Christopher didn’t have a cellphone. They decided to play a customized version of Scatergories since they didn’t have the actual board game. They had a list of categories written, they would use one topic each round and come up with as many answers as they possibly could related to that topic and the letter they were given.

They worked in their teams of three and tried to think of words starting with the letter ‘H’ that fit into the category of Fictional Characters. They were so stumped. H was a complicated letter.

“Are we actually just dumb or is this one hard?" Chimney spoke wracking his brain. They managed to get a couple but got stuck, but the time had run out before they could finish. Turns out the other teams were baffled as well. Everyone had the same amount answered. 

“So, does that mean we all get a point, or no one gets a point?" Buck asked sheepishly. 

They decided that no-one got a point, and they’d move on to the next letter and set of categories.

“The letter is ‘S’," Elijah called out. “Two minutes on the clock. Our topic is animals. Go."

“Oh, crap," Chimney whispered. He started scribbling down answers. 

“Spider, Snake, Scorpion, Shark." They had four so far. The others still had their heads down. 

“Why do I have to be blanking now?" Chimney complained. 

“Sparrow."

The timer was running down quickly.

“Time."

“Team one what did you get?" Eli asked. Evelyn made sure everyone’s pens were down so no-one could cheat. 

“We got Sheep, Shark, Snake, Sealion, Seal, and sloth."

Damn, they had beaten them by one.

“We got Sparrow, Sheep, Starfish, Swan, Squirrel, and Snake."

Well, they had lost that round.

“Well, we definitely lost. We got Shark, Scorpion, Snake, Sparrow, and Spider."

“Well, Buck you and Eddie got beaten by your own son. " 

Buck ever so maturely stuck his tongue out at his sister. 

His son was still at school, and Evelyn was a retired elementary school teacher, so they probably did this sort of thing a lot in class. They definitely had an advantage over them. They decided to play a couple more rounds. Christopher was getting sleepy. It was getting late, and it was past his bedtime.

Maddie had wanted a chance to put her nephew to bed.

Something had changed in her; Eddie wasn’t completely sure what it was, but he let her take Chris for his night-time routine.

Christopher went around the room and bid goodnight to everyone.

“Night Daddy." He wrapped his arms around his Dad. 

“Night, little man."

He hugged him back tightly. Christopher then took Maddie’s hand, and they walked towards the bedroom Christopher was staying in.

Eddie helped Evelyn pack up the board games that they had used for games night. Buck was curled up on the loveseat scrolling through his phone. They were finally given back after they finished playing Scatergories.

Buck didn’t look like he was far off from bed. He looked to be drifting off looking at his phone. Everyone looked like they were winding down for the evening. Caroline was curled up on the recliner with Elijah. They were really sweet.

Eddie admired how well Evelyn and Elijah raised Maddie and Buck even though they were divorced. They worked well together, he could understand what Buck meant they were better off as friends than as husband and wife. They were fortunate enough to split up before they began to resent each other. Through their work, at the LAFD they had met a lot of families were in a toxic home environments. Where parents were just staying together because of their children and they resented each other and every little thing they did. Or parents who are divorced and they can’t even be in the same room together without fighting.

Eddie was learning a lot about his boyfriend on this trip, Eddie felt it had only made them grow closer. Throughout this trip, he had started mentally planning Buck’s 30th birthday. He had to do some research for his surprise for Buck’s birthday.

He had contacted Athena, and she said she would start looking into it for him and get back to him. She would say anything to anyone, she would keep it a surprise for everyone not just Buck.

He couldn’t wait.


	11. Exploring Pennsylvania Part II

The next morning Buck dragged Eddie out of bed, the plan for the day was to explore Hershey. Buck and Maddie wanted to show Chimney, Christopher, and Eddie their old High School. Maddie and Buck didn’t go at the same time. By the time Buck had started Maddie was married and was off living with Doug.

They had a nice quiet breakfast with the rest of the family. Evelyn, Eli, Caroline, and Noah had planned on catching up with some old friends of Evelyn and Elijah’s that just happened to be in the area. They were friends from their high school days.

Evelyn felt guilty leaving her kids to fend for themselves.

“Mom please. We are adults. I think we can manage to fend for ourselves for a few hours."

Buck rolled his eyes. Maddie laughed softly and agreed with her baby brother.

“Anyway. We already have plans."

Buck told her they already had plans to go to their old high school to show Chimney, Chris and Eddie around and have to do something in Hershey maybe look around some old hang out places.

They’d be out of the house, anyway.

That assuaged her guilt a little. She still felt a little guilty as this was their last day in Pennsylvania.

“We’ll just have to come back and visit sometime soon or you can make the trip out to see us." Chimney tried to comfort her, something of an inside joke passed between them. Eddie felt as they were up to something. 

Buck took the keys to Noah’s Jeep and waved to his parents.

“Is this where you got the love of Jeeps from?" Eddie teased his boyfriend getting into the passenger seat while Maddie helped buckle Christopher in then Maddie herself sat in the middle seat. Chimney and Christopher sat either side of Maddie.

“My Jeep is awesome. Thank you very much." Buck started Noah’s jeep and headed off towards the high school. No-one should be around; they were just going to walk the grounds then head off to play a game of bowling. Buck used to play a lot back in high school. He occasionally played a game with Chimney, but besides hanging with Chimney he doesn’t go bowling as much as he used to. 

Buck pulled up to Hershey High School.

“It is a bit on the nose don’t you think." Chimney murmured opening the Jeep door. He helped unbuckle Christopher and helped him from the car. 

The campus wasn’t very large, Buck had mentioned that at any given time there were around a thousand students getting their education there.

Buck pointed out a lot of things that had changed about the school.

“Buck, you graduated high school over ten years ago. Things will be different." Maddie teased her younger brother. 

The school had completely changed from when she had gone to school there. By the time she had graduated Buck was only nine. It would be a few years yet until he started High School.

Eddie had to carry Christopher for a bit as the ground was wet and he struggled to use his crutches on the damp grass as they kept sinking in.

Buck pointed out different things from his high school days. His old drama club building, where he used to hang out with friends, where he used to sit and draw. Maddie was more into science than the arts. She had Noah for a science teacher for a year. Buck also had him as a teacher a couple of times. It was a bit strange having their Mom’s then boyfriend, now husband as their teacher.

She did take a few art classes, but she wasn’t as artsy as her brother. Maddie was a bit of a bookworm in high school, she would divide her time between the library and the science labs.

They couldn’t get into any of the buildings to give them a proper look around, but it was interesting to hear the stories of what sort of students they both were. Buck was more artistic, but his grades never slipped. He had always gotten high marks in a lot of his class. Caroline used to be an accountant so she would help tutor Buck so he wouldn’t flunk out of maths. Maths definitely wasn’t his strong suit, but he still got high marks in it after Caroline had taught him an easier method on how to do his math homework.

Buck definitely wasn’t stupid, after everything Chimney had found out about him on this trip, he actually found Buck was actually really intelligent they had definitely underestimated him and his intellect.

He still made dumb impulsive decisions, but those decisions had nothing to do with his intelligence. He was more compassionate, which led him to put other people before himself. Hen was going to be mind-blown when Buck showed the team his sketches. Buck promised he’d show the team his more recent sketchbooks if Chimney wouldn’t show the team any of his baby pictures.

He had to make that deal with his future brother-in-law, he still had to get Buck’s blessing so he should probably stay on his good side.

They slowly made their way back to the Jeep. Maddie called ahead to the bowling alley to reserve them a lane for when they got there. Every time he went bowling with Buck, he would be so competitive. He still hadn’t been able to beat Buck, but he wasn’t far off. Maybe Eddie would knock him down a peg or two. 

When they got to the small local bowling alley, there weren’t many people there only a few lanes had been taken up. They went up to the counter to pick up the rental bowling shoes. Buck asked if they had any light bowling balls for his son to use. He saw Eddie grinning from the corner of his eye.

They were directed over to lane 4. They put the guards up for Christopher to be able to bowl a little easier. Christopher was determined to bowl by himself, Eddie showed him how to hold the ball and roll it. Bowling was the one thing he had never taken his son to do.

Maddie went up to the counter and got all their names put into the computer. Chimney was up first. He didn’t want a ball that was too heavy, but he didn’t want one that was too light either. On his first turn, he managed a spare.

Christopher was up next. Chimney could see that Eddie was watching anxiously, he wanted to try and help. Buck whispered in his ear: _‘Let him do it. He wants to try. If he wants help, he’ll ask for it.’_

Christopher actually did really well in the two rolls he got for his first turn he knocked down seven pins.

As the game went on Buck and Eddie were neck and neck for first place. He could see Buck was getting really competitive. They had been taunting each other for the last two rounds.

“Don’t slip Babe."

“What? Like you’ve already done?" Eddie goaded. It was true, Buck had tripped over his own two feet heading back to his seat, he had only stumbled a little. 

Buck grumbled but shut up. Eddie got a strike, that sent Christopher into peals of laughter.

“It’s ok Papa. You can’t beat Daddy at everything." Buck looked so offended with the way Christopher tried to comfort him. It made Christopher laugh harder. 

Maddie cackled at the expression on her brother’s face.

At the end of the game it turned out that Eddie had beaten Buck, it was only by a small amount. He had still beaten him.

“You just need more practice. _Mi Amor_."

Buck sulked as they walked out of the building, Chimney could see that Buck had a smile tugging at his lips. He wasn’t mad, he only pretended to be frustrated. Buck was one of those people that was competitive but only to a certain point. Buck had always preferred the company over winning. If he won that was a plus. Buck enjoyed spending quality time with his friends and family.

They headed back to Evelyn and Noah’s home. Their parents weren’t home yet. Buck ended up making a small lunch for the group of them.

“Now what?" Chimney spoke after they had finished lunch. They were standing around the kitchen after cleaning up their lunch dishes. They hadn’t planned out the day much further than this. 

When Chimney voiced his question to the rest of the group, the front door opened, Evelyn and Noah walked in. Caroline and Elijah followed not too far behind.

“When did you get back?" Eli asked the group. He came and sat down next to Christopher. 

“I don’t know, maybe 40 minutes ago. We just had a quick lunch. We are trying to figure out what to do now."

“Chris sweetheart, did you want to do some baking?"

“What about me Mom?" Buck asked. He always used to love baking with his Mom when he was younger, he hadn’t baked with her in years. 

“I’m sorry is your name Chris?" Evelyn quipped. Christopher laughed at the pout on Buck’s face. 

Caroline started getting out baking supplies so she could join Christopher and Evelyn while they banished Buck into the lounge.

“Baby, I’m sure you can find something to entertain yourself while we bake with our grandson." Buck left the room in a dramatic huff. He was only being so dramatic to entertain his son. That was going to take some getting used to, being allowed to call Christopher his son. 

Buck sat down on the couch next to his Dad.

“Hey, Dad."

Chimney, Eddie, and Maddie came and sat in the lounge with the others.

“They also banished us from the kitchen." Chimney grumbled jokingly. 

“Now what?" Buck asked. 

“What do you guys normally do on your downtime?" Noah asked the group curiously. 

“At the station we usually workout, clean the trucks, inventory, clean the station, play video games, nap, watch television. You know the usual." Eddie spoke listing they usually did on a daily basis if they weren’t out on a call. 

“Or trying to get a full meal in. Which rarely happens. It’s happened a couple of times just not often enough. We get halfway through eating then we get a call and have to rush away."

They could hear Christopher’s laughter mixed in with Evelyn’s and Caroline’s. They seemed to be having a great time baking.

"Hey Dad, when do you head back to Chicago? I bet the kids in Paediatrics will be missing you." Maddie asked she had Chimney’s feet in her lap, and she was unconsciously massaging them, not that Chimney was complaining after their walk.

“We actually leave an hour before you do. I have a shift at the hospital that evening. It is definitely going to be an early night for all of us."

Their flight wasn’t going to be as early as on their way to Pennsylvania. Their flight was going to leave at 9 am. They had to be ready early as they were all going to the airport at the same time.

Elijah and Caroline had to be at there at least two hours before their flight so they had to be there by 6 am. Their flight left at 8 am.

They all had to leave for the airport at 5.30 in the morning. Which wasn’t as awful as having to be up at 3am to be at the airport by 5am. They were going to make sure they were going to have everything packed tonight, which meant they only had to pack up the car. They were just going to leave a set of clothes out each to wear for the trip back to Los Angeles to make getting ready in the morning quicker.

Seeing his parents again after two years had been great. There were times where it was hard being on the other side of the country from them especially during his recovery. He would have liked the extra support, but he felt like it was something he needed to get through on his own and with the support of the 118. It didn’t mean that he didn’t love his parents; they were living their lives, and he was trying to get back to his.

He had a great family with Eddie and Chris along with the rest of the 118. Bobby was Dad number three in his mind. He was Captain Dad, luckily Bobby hadn’t heard them calling him that. He doesn’t know how impressed he would be. He looked up to Bobby, sure he also looked up to his own Dad and stepdad, but it was harder with them so far away. Everyone at the 118 looked out for each other. 

Buck snuck into the kitchen and tried to steal a freshly baked cookie right off the baking tray. His Mom smacked his hand away.

“But Mom. I want a cookie." Buck pouted. Christopher was making icing with Caroline ready to ice the cookies once they had cooled. 

“You can wait like everyone else."

“Buck, are you trying to steal cookies again?" Maddie yelled from the lounge. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is my upload schedule. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it. All these times are NZT
> 
> Chapter 12: 17th January 9.00am - Chapter 13: 17th January 4.30pm  
> Chapter 14: 18th January 9.00am - Chapter 15: 18 January 4.30pm  
> Chapter 16: 19th January 9.00am - Chapter 17: 19th January 4.30pm  
> Chapter 18: 20th January 9.00am - Chapter 19: 20th January 4.30pm  
> Chapter 20: 21st January 9.00am - Chapter 21: 21st January 4.30pm  
> Chapter 22: 22nd January 9.00am - Chapter 23: 22nd January 4.30pm


	12. Last Night

Christopher and Caroline had finished icing the cookies. Buck had tried to steal one from the tray, yet again. Eddie looked at him with playful disapproval.

Buck was helping his Mom make a batch of hot chocolate to have with the cookies. They didn’t really have a plan for the rest of the evening. For now, the plan was to have the cookies that Christopher, Evelyn, and Caroline made and drink hot chocolate.

It was more the company and spending time together, not the activities they do together. It wouldn’t be long until they saw each other again. There would be many events that were coming up in the future.

Eddie would have to find the time to talk to Evelyn and Elijah about his plan for Buck’s 30th coming up in a couple of months. He doesn’t think they’ll all be able to make it but hopefully, they’d have another reason soon.

He had already done some of his own research on the process and had contacted Athena. She had a few more connections than he did. Eddie and Athena just had to implement Eddie’s plan once Eddie got back to LA. He had to get Christopher to keep it a secret. They had already taken the first step in making sure they were all on the same boat.

Buck was sitting on the floor leaning against the loveseat with Christopher leant back against his chest. They were both sipping their drinks and nibbling on their cookies. Christopher had made dinosaur cookies. Evelyn had remarked the cutters were from when Buck was little. He would always love baking with her. They had also made other animal cookies in different shapes. They were decorated with a mess of icing. They were tasty cookies though.

Maddie took a photo of Buck and Christopher; they didn’t even notice at first. When they did, they gave Maddie cheesy grins. At that moment Christopher looked a lot like Buck’s biological son. It made him jealous sometimes, but then he would shake it off and keep going on with his day. There were definitely days where Christopher looked like a perfect blend of him and Buck, which he knew was biologically impossible. They made the sweet little family. He couldn’t wait to make it official.

On this trip, his family had definitely grown. He had found a place within the extended Buckley family. His family just kept on growing. He knew it wouldn’t be long until it grew more. The 118 clan was only going to get bigger. Maybe down the track he and Buck might add to it. Hen and Karen had already added to it with them fostering kids. They had two at the moment, Liam and Isaac. They had been with them a few months, hopefully, they’d be able to find a forever home for the kids if not Hen and Karen deciding to adopt.

He was at peace with his life finally. It had taken him a long time to get here. After everything that happened with Shannon and the fight club. He had definitely needed to find a new outlet. He wasn’t angry anymore.

He had let that part of himself go.

There were times Buck would put himself in unnecessary danger and it would make him angry. There was no need for Buck to put himself in danger, unnecessarily.

Buck had Eddie had definitely found a new way to work off their frustrations since they started dating. Since Eddie had stopped the street fighting, he had needed a new outlet. Once he and Buck had started dating, they tended to work their frustrations off on each other. For the most part the frustration would turn into passion, and every other time they’d have it out and argue about Buck putting himself in danger.

Every time his argument was that it was their job to put themselves in danger, Eddie always shot back with ‘You have something to come home to now. You don’t need to put yourself in unnecessary danger’. Other times they’d just spar in the gym at the station. Bobby had put emphasis on the rule in the firehouse after they had started dating. No sex in the firehouse. So, they had to find other ways to work off the sexual tension. With sparring, it almost always ended up with them making out. They had buckets of ice-cold water thrown on them every other sparring match, it seemed it happened more often than not.

They apparently couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

Chimney had gotten up from where he was lying with his feet in Maddie’s lap and was playing cards with Noah. Chimney was losing, badly. Eddie decided to go over and join them. They were only playing Last Card, but it had turned into a very competitive game with Maddie joining in along with Eli, Caroline, and Evelyn. Buck and Christopher watched the game from their position on the floor just off to the side. The game was spread out over the floor in the middle of the living room with everyone sitting in a circle.

Buck joined the circle after a few hands, he got Christopher to help him out and they even won a round.

They ended up playing a few different games throughout the rest of the afternoon. They tried playing Poker, but no-one was very good at it. The game of Snap they played was vicious. Who knew Maddie was so brutal at the game? Buck obviously knew as he refused to play with her.

“You traumatized me as a kid." Buck joked. Chimney ended up with a very red hand after playing a couple of rounds with her. 

“I see what you mean by that Buck." Chimney lamented quietly rubbing his sore red hand. 

Buck and his Mom left the group in the lounge to start the dinner preparations. His Mom recited her plan for their last meal in Pennsylvania. Buck started to pull ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. His Mom was watching him from her position in the kitchen doorway.

“You’re finally happy. Every time you would visit in the past you weren’t happy. But now you are." She spoke reverently. He glanced over at her while he was chopping vegetables for one of the side dishes. He put the knife down and fully turned towards her. He smiled gently. He definitely was happy. He had never been this happy before. 

“I am. I have never been happier." He spoke softly. He turned back around to the vegetables and picked the knife back up and continued his prep. 

“Who can I thank for bringing your boys into our lives." His Mom spoke half-jokingly.

“My Captain. Bobby. He convinced Eddie to join the 118. Even though a lot of other houses wanted him for their teams."

Buck smiled at the memory. Sure, he was a complete jackass to Eddie at first, but Buck loves Eddie and Christopher. The love he feels for his boys was all-consuming. It would wash over him and hit him in random moments and would make him breathless. His team would have to nudge him a few times to bring him back to the moment.

“I’ll have to come across to Los Angeles and thank him personally." Buck let out a laugh. 

Buck had never actually thanked Bobby for convincing Eddie to join their team. Buck never would have thought his life was going to change as much as it had that day. Buck would have to find a way to thank Bobby for Eddie. He was sure Bobby knew how much he appreciated him; he had told him multiple times how he was one of the most important people in his life. He loved his parents, but Bobby would always hold a special place in his heart. 

Buck always used to be conflicted every time he left Pennsylvania. Half of him wanted to stay, the other half wanted to go. Nowadays he wasn’t conflicted. He had made himself a new home, one he would be taking with him back to LA. He was always in an emotional state every time he had to leave. He would miss his parents, but he had his own life now. He’d see them again soon; they wouldn’t leave it as long as last time. He was going to involve his parents in his life a lot more than he had in the past; he didn’t want to keep them away anymore. Eddie wouldn’t let him, anyway. Neither would Christopher. He wouldn’t want to be kept away from his grandparents now that he had four extra ones.

His Mom pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you for bringing your boys to meet us,” Evelyn remarked gratefully. She turned back to the stove and continued to make dinner.

There was laughter coming from the lounge. Buck walked into the doorway and peered in. Maddie was cuddled up to Christopher on the loveseat. Chimney was watching them with a soft look on his face. Eddie was chatting with his Dad, Noah, and Caroline. It looked like an intense conversation. They were building a puzzle on the coffee table at the same time.

“Sweetheart, they are doing fine. You can leave them alone for five minutes."

“Yeah but I don’t want to miss anything."

“You won’t. They love you too much to leave you out."

_

Dinner was a success. Everyone was stuffed. After Buck stopped watching his family and went back to cooking dinner, his Mom was right. He wasn’t going to miss anything. Not long after Buck went back to cooking Eddie came to watch Buck and his Mom cook.

“Eddie if you are going to stand there and watch, you might as well help." His Mom pushed Eddie over to the stove and handed him the wooden spoon. 

_

Everyone separated to finish packing, ready to head to the airport in the morning. It didn’t take Buck very long to throw all his stuff into his suitcase. Eddie was folding his clothes, so they fit into his own case neatly, Eddie scoffed at Buck’s shoddy packing job and went over to help him fold his clothes neatly, so they’d fit better.

His Mom was helping Christopher put his things together, she was trying to spend as much time as she could with her only grandchild.

“You ready to head home tomorrow?" Eddie questioned his boyfriend gently.

“I am ready to get back into work. Who knows what Hen and Bobby got up to while we were gone?"

Eddie looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“It is hard being on the other side of the country. But I have my own life. I need to live it. We’ll see them soon anyway I’m sure. They’ll just have to be the ones to make the trip out next time."

Eddie came over and wrapped his arms around Buck’s waist. He gave Buck’s lips a few gentle kisses. He let Buck go and grabbed both his hands in his own. Buck squeezed Eddie’s hands. Buck led Eddie out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Maddie and Chimney followed not too far behind them.

The last few hours they spend together were peaceful. They spent that time reminiscing on their favourite memories of the last few years. Buck told the story of the Christmas party he and Athena threw for the firehouse. It had been hard for him to keep it a secret from his team knowing they were all upset about not being able to spend the time with their children for Christmas as they were working. Seeing how happy everyone was made it all worth it. He just wanted everyone to be happy no matter the location where they spent their Christmas.

Buck had so many favourite memories. His most treasured ones were more personal, he didn’t want to share them. The moment he and Eddie had gotten together. Their first time. Christopher’s excitement over him and Eddie finally being together. Christopher asking if he could call him Papa. Christopher actually calling him Papa. Buck could only hope he made a lot more memories he could treasure with Eddie and Christopher in the years to come.

Eddie had been watching him from across the room. He grinned at him and smiled bashfully. He could only hope he continued to fall more in love with Eddie every day.

More than he already was.


	13. Heading Home

Buck’s alarm blared at him at 4.30 in the morning. This was an hour earlier than he’d usually wake up for his morning shifts, it was too early. He didn’t want to wake up, he was so comfortable snuggled up against Eddie. Buck’s eyes fluttered open. He realized they were headed back home today. 

Buck dragged himself out of bed and into the shower. He wanted to be the first one to the shower. It wouldn’t be long until someone was banging on the bathroom door yelling at him to get out as everyone else needed a turn.

Buck only managed not even three-minutes in the shower before Maddie was banging on the door.

“Come on Evan. There are other people who need to use the bathroom!"

Buck sighed and turned off the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist and quickly dried off. He pulled on a pair of jeans, boxers, and a dark blue long-sleeve shirt. He would put on his jacket when they were about to leave for the airport.

As soon as he opened the bathroom door, Maddie barged in and closed the door. Buck barely had time to step into the hallway.

Buck shook his head and stalked back to the guest room. Eddie was checking through his bag making sure he had everything.

“If you want a shower, you better line up. Maddie kicked me out of the shower I barely had a chance to have a decent shower."

Eddie came over and wrapped his arms around Buck.

“Well, you smell good anyway." Eddie commented softly while pressing his nose into Buck’s neck.

“Go have a shower, you weirdo." Buck laughed, jokingly shoving Eddie towards the bathroom.

Eddie walked out the door with his towel and toiletries. Buck shook his head and double-checked that he had everything ready for their flight. They were meant to be leaving in 20 minutes. Half an hour at the latest. Hopefully, everyone was ready by then.

Elijah and Caroline especially.

Buck carried his suitcase and backpack down the stairs. He would have brought Eddie’s down with him, but Eddie would need his bag after his shower. Chimney, Elijah, Caroline, and Christopher were all mulling about the kitchen. Christopher grinned brightly at Buck.

“Morning Papa."

“Is it morning? The sun isn’t even up." Buck made his way over to Christopher and pressed a kiss to his curls. Buck slumped down in the seat next to him and greeted his Dad and Chimney.

“Why are we up so early?" Buck whined, resting his head on the table. No-one answered him. It seemed like everyone was still trying to wake themselves up. Evelyn walked into the kitchen followed by Noah.

They were just waiting on Eddie and Maddie.

Eddie made his way into the dining room after depositing his bags by the front door.

“Don’t even bother sitting down Eddie. We are just waiting on Maddie." Elijah muttered. 

“Maddie hurry up!" Buck yelled up the stairs. Eddie flinched at the noise. Chimney grumbled.

“Didn’t your parents teach you the concept of inside voices?" Chimney glared at Buck.

“Obviously not well enough." Evelyn tapped her son on the shoulder.

Maddie hurried into the kitchen looking flustered.

Elijah stood up and started walking to the living room so they could finally head off to the airport.

_

No-one wanted to be awake this early. In Evelyn’s car, there was Buck, Christopher, and Eddie. Christopher had already nodded off. Buck had also fallen asleep.

Eddie was in the front seat chatting to Evelyn to keep her focussed.

“They are down for the count,” Eddie spoke softly looking backward at his boys. They didn’t have a long drive to the airport, but it was still maybe another twenty minutes. Buck had his head rested on the window, he had his mouth open a little and was breathing softly. Christopher had tried to curl himself up into a ball, he was a bit restricted with the seatbelt, but he managed to get into a semi-comfortable position to fall asleep.

“We have been so happy to have you all here. I had wanted to meet you and Christopher from the day Evan started talking about you both. He always spoke highly of you. I used to worry about him being out in LA all alone, but he has all of you out there looking out for him. It would be nice if I got to see my babies more but life gets in the way sometimes and flights are expensive. We’ll try and get out to see you all soon."

“I admit I was a little nervous meeting you all. I am grateful you all have been so accepting of my relationship with your son-"

“There was never any doubt about that,"

“Evan loves you all wholeheartedly. I am ever so grateful you have made him as happy as he is."

Evelyn pulled into the airport, ending their conversation. Buck and he may not verbalize how much they love each other often. They find other ways to express how much they love each other. Buck is an affectionate person, he’ll brush their shoulders together, give him gentle kisses on the cheek, brush their hands together just to show Eddie that he is there. Sometimes he just watches Eddie, he’ll admit that he does the same to Buck.

He noticed since he and Buck had started dating, he was a lot more affectionate. He would just feel the need to touch Buck any way he could, it was just instinct to him now. They also would just watch each other doing mundane chores, a few times Hen, Bobby and Chimney have smacked them upside the head a few times when they have lost their focus just observing each other.

Evelyn pulled into a parking space next to Noah’s car. Elijah was already pulling suitcases out of the trunk. Maddie was clinging onto Chimney trying to keep herself warm by jumping up and down. Chimney did not look impressed by Maddie’s movements. Caroline was helping Elijah with the bags.

Eddie unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his car door. Buck was slowly waking up, the stillness of the car waking him up. Christopher was still fast asleep. Eddie opened Buck’s car door and gently kissed his boyfriend. Buck smiled into the kiss.

“Come on Babe. Time to get out of the car." Eddie whispered softly into Buck’s ear. Evelyn was pulling Christopher out of the car. Buck tried to get her to hand him off, she glared at him until he stopped. They still had a three hour wait time until their flight home, Elijah and Caroline had two hours. They all made their way to the check-in desks.

_

Eddie sat in an uncomfortable chair with Buck sitting next to him, Buck was playing with Eddie’s fingers and stroking his hand while he was absorbed by talking to his Mom. Christopher was dozing on Elijah’s lap. Maddie and Chimney had gone to get coffee for everyone, well a hot chocolate for Christopher. Eddie both loved and hated airports. The waiting was always the worst. After every tour, he would be excited to see Christopher and how much he had grown since the last time. At the end of every tour, there was always a certain tension between him and Shannon, as they all knew he would be headed back out on his next tour soon.

He never blamed her completely for resenting his tours, he knew that he was running away but this time at an airport he was running into his future with Buck and Christopher at his side.

He felt the warm grip on his hand change, Buck had woven their fingers together and smiled gently at him. When he first started at the 118, he wasn’t used to the easy affection they all gave each other. He grew into it. As he and Buck were feeling their way from friends to lovers there was a learning curve about the affection he was allowed to give. Eddie more showed his affections in quiet moments between the two of them, but he was slowly changing his ways and was more comfortable with showing Buck affection in front of their friends and family. 

_

It was nearing Caroline and Elijah’s boarding time. Elijah had taken his daughter into his arms and was talking softly to her. Caroline had hold of Buck and was doing the same. Maddie then swapped with Buck and she started her goodbyes to Caroline. Buck was gripping his Dad tightly. They had grown a lot closer on this trip. They had decided to keep in contact a lot more. Once a month wasn’t enough for them anymore.

Finally, it was Eddie and Christopher’s turn to say goodbye to Elijah. Elijah picked up Chris and hugged his tightly. Eddie was roughly pulled into the same hug with him pressed awkwardly into Elijah’s side.

“Thank you for bringing my boy back to me."

_

Buck, Chimney, Christopher, Eddie, and Maddie were waiting for their boarding time. Evelyn was getting more upset as the time got closer. She didn’t want her children to leave, but she knew she had to let them go. Their lives weren’t with her anymore. They would always be around, but they just happened to be in a different city.

Maybe they’d have a few excuses in the near future to go and visit LA. Tickets were expensive, even if they had to take a road trip to get there they would.

No-one knew what to say, even Christopher was quiet. They didn’t have long left until they properly had to say goodbye and head to the boarding gate.

Chimney, Buck, and Eddie had to work a 24-hour shift tomorrow, they wanted to start making up the time they had taken off to come to Pennsylvania. It was going to be a long shift after being away on what was a sort of holiday. They had a just over five-hour flight. Ahead of them, then tomorrow their 24-hour shift. They would have to squeeze in as many naps as they could in between calls. Since it was still going to be Spring Break for a couple of days, they would probably get ridiculous calls from illegally drunk teenagers.

Christopher was going to be with Carla while Buck and Eddie were on shift. There were days where Buck was off shift so he would spend his days off hanging out with Chris.

Buck checked the time on his phone, they only had half an hour left until their flight boarded. Buck sighed and stood up. Evelyn seemed to realize it was time for them to go. Maddie stood up alongside her brother pulling Chimney up along with her. Eddie lifted Christopher into his arms.

No-one knew how to say goodbye. Eddie stepped forward first with Christopher in his arms. He pulled Evelyn into his arms with Christopher pressed up against them both.

“We’ll see you again soon Evelyn. This isn’t goodbye. Thank you for having us. I can only speak for myself, but I had a great time here. We’ll definitely see each other soon." Eddie murmured softly into Evelyn’s ear. He pulled away and let the others say goodbye.

Chimney took Eddie’s place, wrapping his arms softly around Evelyn. They could see Chimney’s lips moving, but the words were too soft for them to hear. Chimney, Christopher and Eddie stepped away from Buck, Evelyn, and Maddie. They were giving them privacy to say goodbye to their Mom.

They said their goodbyes to Noah, it had been interesting to watch the Buckley family dynamic on this trip.

A few minutes later the group walked over. “Time to go." Evelyn and Noah had already started to make their way out of the airport.

It was time for them to head home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided I wanted to rewrite the entire story. I will still be uploading the rest of this but have decided to change a few things. I am also writing another story.


	14. Happy 30th Birthday Buck!

It had been two months since their trip to Pennsylvania.

Since then Buck had kept in contact with his parents a lot more than he used to, it was now every week instead of every month. He was now a lot closer to them. After accidentally slipping up about his accident and the Tsunami, his parents were a bit more overprotective.

Luckily, they didn’t bring it up as much anymore.

One day Buck had been facetiming his Mom and Bobby had overheard them talking about the Fire truck incident. Bobby intercepted the conversation and told his Mom that they all kept a close eye on Buck when they were out on calls, so he doesn’t get himself into trouble.

Jokes on them, trouble always seems to find him.

His Mom adored Bobby and Athena, so they kept in contact a lot. Buck knew Bobby was reporting on his wellbeing to his Mom, so she didn’t worry too much.

From what Buck could tell Bobby and Athena would actually talk to his parents every couple of weeks. Seems like they had become friends.

They would probably end up ganging up on him every time he ended up getting himself into trouble.

It was coming up on his 30th birthday. Everyone around the fire station was acting really suspicious every time he walked into the room. They weren’t being very subtle.

Seems like his team was underestimating him again. He wasn’t stupid. He could tell they were planning something. It was Eddie that was acting the most off. He was hiding something from him. He wasn’t a very great liar. From what Christopher had implied it wasn’t a bad secret.

Buck tried to ignore his co-workers and do the chores he was assigned to. There had been a few times he was ready to yell out ‘What!’ at them. They kept giving him weird looks. Buck had checked, he didn’t have any of his clothes on backwards or inside out. There was nothing in his teeth. He had the right uniform on for once. It had happened a couple of times: Buck and Eddie had picked up the wrong duffle bags and ended up in each other’s uniforms. No-one had ever told them outright.

They would just snicker at them and just walk away.

It wasn’t his birthday for another couple of days, so he had no idea what their problem was. 

_

It was the morning of his birthday. He was woken up by Christopher jumping on him, bouncing excitedly and he was talking quickly. Buck didn’t quite understand what he was saying as he was still half asleep.

“Christopher Babe. I’m awake." Chris then cuddled into his side and snuggled in next to him. 

“I thought I was supposed to wake up not go back to sleep?" Buck rolled over and wrapped his arms around Christopher bringing him to his chest. 

“Happy Birthday, Papa." Christopher lay a wet kiss to Buck’s cheek. Buck let out a husky laugh and hugged him tighter. He was content to lie like this for a few minutes. Then he really had to get up and get ready for work. It didn’t bother him all too much that he had to work on his birthday. He got to work with his family then afterwards they were throwing him a surprise party at Bobby and Athena’s place. 

Christopher had slipped up on that one. He would just have to pretend to be surprised.

Christopher was being taken to his Abuela’s today while Buck and Eddie worked. It just happened to be a Sunday. Bobby felt bad asking Buck to work on his birthday, but Buck waved him off. After everything he had been through over the years, he was almost always ready to work.

Buck pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the closet that he and Eddie shared.

Not long after they returned from Pennsylvania Eddie asked Buck to move in with them.

They ended up looking for a whole new place that they could make their own and was accessible for Christopher. They found one in between work and Christopher’s school and moved in as soon as they could. They had only been there for a couple of weeks, but they had all settled in. Hopefully, within the next couple of years, they’d be able to buy their first home together. Buck had started saving for that venture when they first started dating, not that Eddie knew that.

When he turned back to the bed, Christopher had already left the room. He could hear his and Eddie’s voices coming from the kitchen. Buck grinned and followed the voices to see his boyfriend serving up breakfast. He had made pancakes for breakfast instead of the usual cereal they would have in the morning. Buck would sometimes make himself a smoothie before heading to work. His habits had starting changing after he started dating Eddie and spending more of his time with Eddie and Chris.

Nowadays he would actually sit down with them and eat breakfast instead of always drinking it on the go.

“Papa! Come sit." Eddie turned at his son’s voice and smiled at his boyfriend. 

“Happy birthday Mi Amor." He brushed his lips against Buck’s then turned back to the stove and continued making the pancakes. 

Buck sat down across from Christopher. Eddie had just put a pancake on his plate. He picked up his cutlery and started cutting into it.

Eddie had already helped Christopher cut his pancake into manageable pieces.

Eddie was watching him suspiciously. “You know, don’t you?" He was watching Buck carefully keeping an eye out for his tells. 

“Know what?" Buck mumbled after swallowing a bite of pancake. 

“What we’re doing today," Eddie answered still watching Buck with a critical eye. 

“We’re going to work soon after dropping Chris off at your Abuela’s. Then after work, we are having a nice quiet night in with Christopher like we always do.” His tone heavily implied the ‘duh,’.

Eddie shook his head. He was still suspicious. “Someone told you." He was trying to get it out of Buck if it was the last thing he’d do. 

“People tell me a lot of things. Mostly it is just Bobby telling me not to do something stupid and impulsive. But, hey. It usually happens anyway."

Eddie had to laugh at that. He grinned shaking his head and went back to his own breakfast.

Buck got Eddie off his back for now. He definitely wouldn’t throw their son under the bus. Christopher grinned at him from across the table. It could be explained that he was entertained by his dads' discussion. You wouldn’t call it an argument. It was only playful.

They quickly finished their breakfast and cleaned up the dishes.

“Alright, bud. Grab your bag and we’ll head off." Buck grabbed his duffle bag, making sure it was his own this time. 

He really needed to get his initials stitched into the side of the bag so there were no mix-ups.

They hopped into Eddie’s truck. They would always swap off whose vehicle they’d take to work. There were days they would work without each other so they’d just take their own, but most days they’d just switch off which one they would take to work. It made it easier for them to carpool together to work to save on gas.

They quickly dropped Christopher off at Abuela’s then headed off to work. They got there with ten minutes to spare. They had to change quickly into their uniforms to be ready for their shift.

They walked together into the loft of the firehouse. Everyone was already there drinking coffee at the dining room table. For once Bobby wasn’t making breakfast.

“Happy birthday Buckaroo." Hen called out as Buck came into view. Buck flopped down into his usual seat. Eddie sat down beside him like he usually does.

Eddie placed his hand on Buck’s knee and squeezed gently, then he went back to his conversation with Chimney.

Everyone else chimed in with their birthday wishes. There was light chatter around the dining room table. They didn’t know how long they would have until their first call; they got as much downtime as they could. No-one had really asked Buck what his plans were for after shift. Buck knew they must be planning something. They must have Athena and Karen doing the setup for it while everyone else was on shift.

Just like that, the alarm went off for their first call.

_

It was nearing the end of shift and they piled into the trucks ready to head back to the firehouse.

The team still had no idea that Buck actually knew what they were planning. Christopher had said it would be at Bobby and Athena’s which is why Eddie probably insisting on driving today so that he could secretly drive them over without Buck realizing until they were almost there.

Once back at the station, they finished the swap over for the night shift then headed to the locker rooms to change into their civvies.

The rest of the team was still going with the charade. They wished him happy birthday again then hoped he had a nice evening planned with Eddie and Christopher. As if they weren’t all going to Athena and Bobby’s place for a surprise party.

_

Buck started to play along on the drive. He pretended to notice that they weren’t heading in the direction of home.

“This isn’t the way home," Buck emphasized bluntly, watching Eddie curiously. 

“We have something planned." Eddie left no room for argument. 

“Fine with me. We never really organized anything. I was always just going to go along with what you and Christopher wanted to do."

Buck literally had no idea how Eddie hadn’t guessed that he already knew what was being planned. Sure, he didn’t figure it out himself, but he would have figured it out with the way his co-workers were acting.

They pulled up to Bobby and Athena’s place. Everyone else’s cars were already there. Same with a few additional cars that looked vaguely familiar from the fire station parking lot.

“Really? A surprise party?" Buck joked, nudging Eddie playfully. 

Eddie got out of the truck and pulled a couple of things out of the backseat. Buck looked at him questionably.

“You’ll find out later." That was all Eddie stated bluntly, and he started to make his way to the front door. Buck followed quickly behind him. This was beginning to feel like the welcome back surprise party they had thrown for him when he had his embolism. 

“Is it just me or are you getting Déjà vu?" Buck asked his boyfriend softly. 

Eddie froze and cursed under his breath in Spanish.

“I’m so sorry _Mi Amor_. We didn’t even think about that." Eddie went to pull out his phone to message the team. 

“Babe, it’s fine. I’ll be alright. You guys weren’t doing it to be malicious. This is supposed to be a happy surprise. Don’t let me bring down the mood."

“Are you sure?" Eddie queried. Buck brought their lips together softly before knocking on the door. 

“I’m sure. Hopefully, the Famous Buckley Luck doesn’t kick in." Buck teased. 

“Don’t joke about that, please." Eddie scolded tensely. 

“Everything will go great."

The front door swung open then, Athena was standing, holding the front door open.

“Happy birthday Buckaroo." Athena brought him into her arms, pulling him into the house. 

They made their way down the small staircase into the sort of open plan living area. The group down below yelled surprise. He got a sense of déjà vu this was happening almost exactly like his last surprise party. Even though he was expecting it, it still startled him.

He was first hugged tightly by his sister. “Happy birthday Evan."

Everyone then took turns hugging him and giving their birthday wishes. He then saw Christopher standing off to the side.

“Hi, Baby," Buck spoke pulling Christopher into his arms then twirling him about. 

“Hi, Papa! Happy birthday!" Christopher giggled and hugged Buck tightly. 

A few days after they got back from Pennsylvania was the first time the team had heard Christopher call Buck ‘Papa’ they were all a little surprised. They were mostly surprised it had taken them this long. They thought it would happen before they started dating and that would give them the push, they needed to get them together.

Turns out Eddie just needed the guts to ask Buck out.

_

Going along with Buck’s agreement with Chimney, one morning Buck brought in his sketchbooks to show the team. They had not been expecting that Buck was such a good artist. They now kept a few of Buck’s sketches in the firehouse loft to bring a little bit of life in.

Buck had sketched the photo from the Christmas Party, that now hung on the wall behind where the photo was taken. It was a large drawing that they had also gotten framed. It showed their family.

_

Athena had made a fantastic dinner for the party. There was also a large cake.

“You guys really didn’t need to do this."

“30 is a big birthday." Chimney nudged Buck. They had just finished eating dinner, and they were about to sing Happy Birthday and get Buck to blow out the candles. 

“They better not be trick candles." Buck threatened jokingly.

The team usually got a sheet cake every time they threw a party. This time it was a large chocolate sponge cake, that were a few layers. In between each layer were chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache. Around the outside was chocolate shavings and was topped with chocolate cream rosettes and chocolate decorations. It looked extravagant. There was a 3, and a 0 placed in the cake's top with the candles lit.

Everyone started singing their own out of tune version of ‘Happy Birthday’. Buck never knew what to do with himself in these situations. Luckily it was over quickly, and he blew out the candles.

_

Buck saw Athena and Bobby each with their own laptops set to Skype. On Athena’s screen was his Mom and Noah.

“Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!" His Mom chimed in excitedly. 

“Finally, 30 Evan. I still remember you being that sweet seven years old. What happened?" Noah joked. 

Apparently, they were just waiting for his Dad and Caroline to call.

When they had finally called and chimed in with their respective birthday wishes. It was apparently time for Buck to open his gifts.

Buck received a few gifts that the team had pitched in for. Lastly, there was a small thin package wrapped in cheesy birthday wrapping paper.

The tag read: ‘Love Eddie and Christopher,’.

“I thought I told you guys not to get me anything."

“You might want this one." Eddie’s voice wavered slightly. Buck only just picked up on the nervous tone in Eddie’s voice, but he knew Eddie and how his voice sounded when he was nervous. It made him curious. Everyone else looked like they didn’t have a clue what was in the wrapping paper. Well, everyone except Athena. 

Buck slowly tore through the wrapping paper. Inside was an official-looking black leather folder. He carefully pulled the papers out of it. It was a lot of text and at the bottom was a space for two signatures. One had already been filled out.

The room was dead silent in anticipation of what the gift actually was.

Buck looked to the top of the page. Tears had started welling in his eyes almost immediately.

It was a petition for Buck to formally adopt Christopher. Buck’s mind was racing. His hands started shaking. The surrounding group started looking at him worriedly.

“What did you do?" Chimney murmured to Eddie. 

Buck’s mouth opened then closed again. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth.

“You already know what the answer is." He managed to croak out. Christopher crawled into his lap. The papers fluttered to the ground when he wrapped his arms around Christopher tightly and cried into his neck. Maddie picked up the papers and gasped softly. 

“Really?" She spoke looking at Eddie. 

“Always."

Now everyone was really confused.

“Buck is going to officially adopt Christopher as his own," Eddie answered in explanation. 

“It’s about time." Christopher chimed in. Buck laughed brokenly hugging Chris tighter. 


	15. Will You?

Chimney had to find the time to talk to Buck. He had been meaning to for a while.

He had already brought the ring to propose to Maddie, he now just needed to talk to Buck about how he would feel about it. How did he even go about talking to Buck about it? Maybe he needed to call one of their guy nights and ask him then. They were coming up to their scheduled one anyway, might as well make it a little earlier.

He saw Buck walking to the locker room. Luckily it was just him in there for now.

“Hey, Buck. Can we move our guys night up to tonight? If you’re free that is." Chimney had poked his head into the locker room. Buck had been rummaging through his locker looking for something. 

“Yeah sure. What did we want to do?."

“We could go to the usual bar?" Chimney suggested. The team always went there, Maddie and Chimney liked to do karaoke there. 

“Sure. Right after shift or meet there a bit later?" Buck still had his head stuck in his locker. What was he even looking for?

“We can go right after shift. We can order food there for dinner. Not the healthiest but who cares."

Finally, Buck pulled out his phone.

“Did you just throw that in there or something." Chimney joked, watching Buck scroll through his phone. 

The station alarm started blaring at them. They ran for the trucks ready to head out to their call.

Hopefully, Buck gave Chimney a positive reaction to his question.

_

Chimney pulled up to the bar. Buck’s Jeep was already waiting in the lot. Buck had left a few minutes before him. When he walked inside, he could see Buck sitting in a corner booth waiting for him. He looked like he was hiding from someone.

“Hey Buckaroo. Why are you hiding?" Chimney sat down across from Buck. Buck looked startled for a second, then looked relieved. 

“Taylor Kelly is here. I really don’t want to see her."

The team knew all about Buck’s escapades in the past. They knew that Taylor Kelly was one of them that he regretted majorly.

“Well, you are in a serious relationship now. You have an excuse now to tell her to go away and leave you alone."

Chimney teased Buck. He knew Buck was so in love with Eddie. Christopher included. Buck would never do anything to jeopardize that. The team teased the couple a lot, but they were so good for each other. They just fit. They made each other happy. When Chimney first met Buck, he’d never thought he’d see the day that Buck was embracing being a parent and a serious monogamous relationship.

Just as Buck was about to say something in return, Taylor Kelly came over to their table. Chimney groaned internally. Couldn’t she just leave them alone for one night? He needed to talk to Buck about marrying his sister.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Taylor stood by their booth with her hands on her hips staring Buck down. Chimney felt really bad for Buck at this moment.

“What gave you that idea?" Buck snapped sarcastically.

“We should pick up where we left off." She stated boldly. Holy shit. She was actually serious. She was about to get a massive wakeup call. 

“My boyfriend wouldn’t like that." Buck turned his attention back to Chimney, opened his mouth to continue their previous conversation. 

“Boyfriend?!" Taylor shrieked. They had started to get the attention of bar patrons. Yup, this is absolutely what they wanted when they came out this evening. 

“Yes. Boyfriend. As in, I’m in a serious relationship with a man." Buck shook his head and tried talking to Chimney again. 

Taylor stalked off in a huff. She was expecting to get her way as usual. She thinks after everything that happened Buck would just still be single and ready and waiting for her.

“Is she actually delusional? To think I’d actually want to sleep with her again after everything that’s happened. Even if I was single?"

Someone came over to their table to take their orders. They quickly ordered their dinner and drinks. 

“So Chim. You mind telling me why we are doing our guys night early?" Buck joked. 

Chimney started to look nervous. Buck’s smile dropped off his face, he was worried what if there was something seriously wrong.

“What is it?" Buck questioned nervously. 

“I want to marry your sister." Chimney blurted out apprehensively. He had no idea how Buck was going to react. 

“That’s it? Man, you really had me worried there." Chimney was waiting for Buck to finish processing the statement. 

“Seriously?" Buck breathed. 

“Dude. After meeting my parents are you sure you want to go through with that?" Buck quipped. 

“Even after knowing you as long as I have, I’m willing to go through with it." Chimney ribbed. Buck let out a loud laugh. 

“Touché."

Chimney felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He continued his night out with Buck. Soon Buck would be his brother-in-law. Let’s hope he was ready for this. He knew he was kidding. He loved Buck and had always thought of him as the little brother of the team.

_

Chimney was a bit scared at the moment. Last time he had tried to propose to someone they ended up not saying no, but not saying yes either and still ended up leaving. He didn’t have a very good track record.

He and Maddie had talked about this though. She was receptive to the idea. He just had to get up the nerve to ask her.

He didn’t really have any ideas on how to do it. He didn’t want to pounce on her. He also didn’t want to put too much pressure on her.

He didn’t want to do it right after dinner while still at the dining room table, which brought up some bitter memories.

Maybe he’d just wing it.

_

They were out for an evening walk after dinner; they had started cooking together so they could both learn new recipes. They had managed a few edible dishes, some flopped.

Chimney just enjoyed spending the time with Maddie. If they got better at cooking, then great.

Chimney stopped in his place. Maybe he should do it here. Maddie turned towards him; her face puzzled as to why he had just stopped.

“Chim?"

Chimney reached into his pocket and sunk down onto one knee. Maddie looked surprised for a moment then smiled at him gently. That gave him the courage to continue.

“Maddie. It has taken a lot for us to get here. We battled through everything together and came out on the other side. I love how strong you have been through everything. You inspire me to be the best version of myself. I love you. To show you how much I love you, I’ll take Buck along with you," He joked. 

“Will you marry me?"

Chimney’s stomach tightened with nerves. He could see Maddie’s eyes watering. Her smile began to widen. She laughed breathlessly at his statement about Buck. She knew he loved Buck, and Buck loved Chimney. Which is why she felt no doubt or fear when she answered him.

“Yes."

_

It had been a few weeks since Maddie and Chimney’s engagement. Buck cried when his sister told him, even though he knew it was going to happen.

Buck was happy for his sister. She deserved to be happy after everything that had happened with Doug.

_

Eddie didn’t know how close was too close for him to propose to Buck. It had only been a few weeks since Maddie and Chimney got engaged.

Eddie had dug out the ring around the same time he was sorting the adoption papers. He had brought the ring before they had even started dating. He had brought it after talking to Buck on Halloween where they hashed things out. Not fully but it was a start. That was a couple of years ago.

He went ring shopping first thing in the morning before his next shift. After everything with the lawsuit. It was an impulse decision; it was finally time to give it to Buck.

He didn’t want to overwhelm Buck with two massive events on one day, so he decided to propose a little down the track. He wanted to do it now; he was too excited to ask Buck to marry him. There had been a few times where he almost blurted it out. He would just ask his son for his blessing to marry his Papa.

Eddie was nervous. He had no idea how he was going to go about asking Buck to marry him. 

He needed to utilize Christopher’s help with this one. His son loved his Papa and would be willing to help with anything to do with him.

_

Buck just happened to be on shift without him for one day. Eddie used that time to talk to Christopher and see if they could brainstorm some ideas of how he could ask Buck to marry him.

“Chris do you want to plan a surprise for Papa?" Eddie spoke excitedly. 

Chris perked up, and he watched his Dad with a grin on his face. “Let’s do this."

_

They had come up with the idea, where Christopher would show Buck on of his drawings after he had gotten back from work. He would show him a picture of their little family and then at the bottom would write The Buckley-Diaz family.

That would give him the lead in he needed to propose to Buck.

He prayed Buck would say yes.

_

Buck got home from a long shift at the station. He pressed a kiss to Christopher’s curls and gave his boyfriend a light kiss in greeting.

“Papa! Come look at the drawing I made!"

They hadn’t exactly decided when Eddie would propose to Buck, evidently, Christopher decided for him. He had the ring for Buck in his pocket. He was a little nervous, but he was excited to ask Buck. He had no idea what he would say, besides the obvious question.

Buck and Christopher were sat in the lounge together looking over the picture. Buck was running his fingers over the wording on the picture.

It was time.

He went and stood in front of Buck and slid down onto one knee. Buck didn’t notice at first.

“Did you see the awes-" Buck started then cut himself off when he noticed Eddie crouched down in front of him. 

“What’s going on?" He asked breathlessly. His eyes moved from the paper to Eddie to Christopher then back again. 

“Evan, I love you, we love you. You don’t know how long I have been thinking about this for. It is a little embarrassing. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, what do you say the three of us become Buckley-Diaz? Will you marry me?"

Buck was grinning, there were also a few tears that had started to spill from his eyes.

“Holy shit-"

Buck cut himself off and declared sternly and jokingly. “Chris never repeat that."

“Yes. I will marry you. I always liked the way our names sounded together."

Eddie slipped the black titanium band onto Buck’s left-hand ring finger. Eddie kissed the ring then held Buck’s face and brought their lips together. Buck smiled into the kiss. Next to them, Chris cheered.

Eddie pulled back and pulled Christopher into a group hug. Everything was finally coming together.


	16. Positive

Maddie was freaking out a little. Sure, she and Chimney had planned for this, but it was still scary once it was actually happening. They had only been trying for a few months. She didn’t think it would happen so quickly.

They had only gotten engaged a few weeks ago. She was happy about it.

She knew Chimney would ask her to marry him, but she hadn’t been expecting it to happen so soon.

She was happy with how things were turning out. She was a little nervous at this very moment.

She looked down at the stick in her hands, there were two clear lines. This wasn’t the only test she had taken. There were three more sitting on the vanity. All with the same result. Maddie felt tears running down her face. They were having a baby. She was finally getting the chance to be a mother.

How was she going to tell Chimney?

_

Maddie was sitting in the lounge waiting for Chimney to come home from his shift. She didn't know how she was going to bring it up. How would she slip something like this into a conversation? It wasn't some casual conversation topic, like one of the films Chimney was into. 

She didn’t know how she would tell him. She didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it did. She should just come right out with it and say it. She probably shouldn’t drag it out too much. She knew he would be excited. She was too; she was a bit more nervous than anything else.

Chimney walked through the front door of her apartment. It was their day to stay at hers. They were still settling on a house. They had a keen interest in a couple of houses. They were just waiting to hear from the realtor.

They needed to settle on a house sooner rather than later now.

“Hi." Chimney kissed Maddie gently then flopped down on the couch next to her. 

“I’m pregnant." She blurted out. Well, it seemed she was taking the blunt route. 

Chimney inhaled sharply and started choking and coughing. He sat spluttering for a minute.

“Are you serious?" He looked at Maddie in awe. 

She handed him one of the pregnancy tests. He was speechless.

“We’re having a baby?" He spoke barely above a whisper. 

She nodded smiling. They were actually having a baby. Her parents were going to flip out. In a good way. Their second grandchild. Thanks to Buck for adopting Christopher officially. Buck would- she didn’t know how Buck would react.

Chimney spend the rest of the night watching her reverently and constantly touching her as if making sure it was all real. It still didn’t feel real to her either. It was like a dream that she was watching from the outside. Four tests couldn’t be wrong. She’d have to book an appointment to see her Gynaecologist about talking to her about working out the baby’s due date and any other concerns before the first scan.

_

Maddie went in for her dating scan a week after she found out. She was eight weeks along. It had happened quickly for them it seemed. Considering her age, she was surprised it hadn’t taken much. She had to go back in for another scan in a few weeks after she hit her second trimester to have her Nuchal Translucency Scan. She opted to have it once she hit 12 weeks instead of the 11 weeks.

They hadn’t told anyone yet. They just wanted to keep the news to themselves for a little bit. They’d tell their family once she was out of the first trimester.

It was a secret that only they knew.

_

Chimney had been acting strangely the last couple of weeks, always so happy like nothing could bring him down. It was making everyone suspicious.

“What is up with Chimney do you think?" Buck whispered to Hen as they cleaned the trucks. For once Buck wasn’t working with Eddie on chores. Bobby made them do chores separately today. Buck has no idea why they were acting completely professional. Eddie was on inventory duty. 

“He has been a bit cheery for the last few weeks. Maybe he is just excited to be marrying your sister?" Hen suggested, nudging Buck with the wet sponge. 

“Oh, come on, Hen." Buck now had a big wet patch on his uniform shirt. 

Even Hen was suspicious about Chimney’s moods. Usually, he would be telling her everything that was going on but this time he had his lips sealed. There was something going on with him. Hopefully, he would tell them sooner rather than later before rumours started spreading throughout the firehouse.

_

They had just come out of their Nuchal Translucency Scan. Everything went well. They did have a few concerns as to her age and what that could allude to. They hadn’t found anything concerning on the scan. There was always going to be a chance that the baby may have Downs Syndrome, but from the scan, the chances seem to be quite slim. The baby looked healthy, for now it was still quite small but was developing normally.

They now had to contact her parents. Chimney really didn’t want to tell his father and stepmother. His father really wouldn’t care. Anytime Chimney called him, his father always asked if he was calling for money. He knew if he called to tell him about his grandchild, the first thing he’d ask was if they needed money. Chimney didn’t want to go through that.

_

Maddie had pulled open Skype to video chat both sets of parents at once. They were planning a conference video call. Maddie had just got a text from her Dad that they were just setting up on their end. Evelyn and Noah replied that they were also just setting up. Maddie added both parents to the group call. The first to answer was her Dad and Caroline.

“Hi Maddie, Chimney."

Evelyn and Noah then picked up the call.

“Hi, Baby. How are you doing? It has been a while since we last talked."

They spend a few minutes on small talk, Maddie was slowly getting up the nerve to tell her parents they were getting another grandchild.

Chimney squeezed her hand gently. He was nervous, too. He knew they’d be happy for them. They were engaged. They were not a judgemental family. They were supportive of Buck and Eddie’s relationship.

Hopefully, they would be supportive of this.

“How do you feel about being grandparents again?" Maddie spoke softly. Everyone went silent, comprehending what Maddie had just questioned. 

Evelyn spoke up first. “You’re having a baby?" She sounded really excited. Elijah was grinning. They already had considered Christopher to be their grandson even before Buck officially adopted him. They were now just adding to their grandchildren. 

They all were ecstatic about the news of the new baby. Of course, her Mom had to ask all the questions: Is the baby healthy? How far along are you? How have you been feeling? Does your brother know?

“Not yet Mom. I’ll be telling him tomorrow on our Buckley Night."

They had planned to have dinner just the two of them. They hadn’t spent the time together just the two of them in a while. Chimney thought it would be nice if she just told him by herself, letting them have one of their rare Buckley Nights. Since they were both in serious relationships, they didn’t get to hang out together just the two of them as often as they’d like to.

It was a relief that her parents were happy for them. It was hard being away from them so much. After their trip to Pennsylvania, they were a lot closer to their parents than they used to be.

They only spoke for a few more minutes before they had to hang up. Her Dad got called into work for an emergency. They planned to talk at the end of the week on her next day off. She just had to get through tomorrow then tell Buck that he was going to be an uncle. Shouldn’t be too hard. Should it?

_

They decided on a nice restaurant that neither of them had tried yet. It was a little different from the places they were used to. Buck was already waiting for her at a table. He hadn’t ordered drinks for them yet, luckily.

Maddie walked through the restaurant and met her brother at the table. He had gotten up to greet her. He pulled her into one of his usual bear hugs. She was glad that they got to have these nights together. She loved to hang out with her brother like this, just spending time together and catching up on everything that has happened.

A waiter came over to their table and asked if they were ready to order drinks. Buck ordered a beer and she ordered a water with lemon.

“No wine tonight?" Buck asked her curiously. He had picked up his menu and was scanning it. Her butterflies started to flare up. Buck would be supportive no matter what. She was still a bit scared; anxiety wasn’t fun. Her brain wouldn’t shut up sometimes. She had been told in the past that anxiety wasn’t a thing and that she had nothing to worry about. Well, tell that to her brain. She couldn’t help her anxiety, it just flared up at random times. It wasn’t like she could help it.

“No, not tonight and probably not for a while." She waited to see if Buck would click on her statement. He looked at her puzzled, then started processing what she had meant. 

“No fucking way. Shut up." Buck looked elated. “You’re pregnant?"

“Yeah, Uncle Buck. You’ll have a niece or nephew in around six months."

She could see Buck’s eyes water. He got up out of his chair and came around to her side of the table and pulled her out of her seat, off the floor and into a massive bear hug and kissed her on top of her head.

“Congratulations Mads," He whispered into her ear. “Hang on. Is this why Chim has been so insanely happy these last couple of weeks? Hen has been ready to kick his ass for being so cheery."

Buck sat back down. The waiter brought their drinks over and took their food orders.

“Chimney and I are so happy. We didn’t know how long it would take-"

Buck cut her off. “Mads there are some things I definitely don’t need to know about. I don’t need or want to know about your sex life and you probably don’t want to know about mine."

Buck and Maddie both cringed at the thought.

“Yeah, maybe we’ll give a pass on that conversation. I want to be able to look you in the eye."

“Oh, come on Maddie that was one time," Buck whined.

“One time too many. If you ask me."

“Well, I didn’t ask you." He playfully stuck his tongue out at her. 

That sat at the table laughing. They got a few glares thrown their way. Well too bad. They were celebrating the news of her pregnancy.

“When have you and Eddie decided to have the wedding?" Maddie took a sip of her water. She had been so happy for them when she had found out.

“Not for a few months yet. I don’t think. We don’t want a huge extravagant wedding that takes over a year to plan. We want a small intimate ceremony, with family and close friends. Well, as small as it can be with Eddie’s massive family. That’s it. If it could be just us and Christopher. We’d do it that way. But everyone would kill us if we did that."

“I’d definitely kill you if you did that. Mom would bring you back just to kill you. Then Bobby and Athena and so on."

“What about you and Chimney?"

“I think for now we are just happy being engaged. I think we’ll end up getting married after the baby is born. Speaking of the baby, did you want to see the ultrasound photo?"

Maddie started digging through her bag looking for the small black and white grainy image that she was given after her ultrasound.

Buck held the image gently, running his fingers over the image.

“What is that?” He joked tearfully. “It looks like a jellybean, not a baby. Are you sure you are not just having a food baby?" 

“Rude. That is my baby. Your niece or nephew you are talking about." Maddie jested. She knew Buck was just teasing. She could see him falling in love immediately. Buck always had a soft spot for babies and children even from a young age. He took to Christopher immediately. He was made to be a parent. No matter how many people underestimated him. 

_

Maddie was supposed to be stopping into the firehouse to tell the station that she and Chimney were expecting. Except that no one was there. It seemed like they were out on a call. She was sitting in the loft waiting for them to come back. She didn’t have to head into work until tonight, so she had time. But she wanted a nap before work. It wouldn’t be the best idea to be caught napping at the 118.

She had sent Chimney a message asking how far out they were. She hadn’t heard anything back yet, so she sent a text through to Buck hoping her brother would at least reply.

Maddie tried not to fall asleep on the couch. She had almost drifted off when the trucks and ambulance pulled into the station. She sat up swiftly. She was definitely awake now.

She made her way over to the railing; she could see Buck standing at his gear locker pulling off his turnout gear with Eddie next to him doing the same. Chimney and Hen were making their way over to the staircase to come up to the loft. Chimney was looking at his phone and only just saw her message.

“Maddie?" Chimney walked over a kissed her in greeting. “Now?" Chimney questioned. He sounded nervous.

“Mads," Buck bounded over to her wrapping her in a gentle bear hug. “What are you doing here?"

Buck put her down, and he sat down at the dining room table. Eddie and Bobby were just coming up the stairs following the rest of the group.

Eddie greeted his soon to be sister-in-law with a one-armed hug then sat down next to Buck.

“Maddie, what do we owe the pleasure?" Bobby made his way into the kitchen and started pulling out ingredients to make the team a late lunch.

“Will you be staying for lunch?" Bobby asked. It was easy enough for him to add another place setting for her. Athena was on her way over; she wasn’t too far off. She just had to drop a perp off at the station for him to be processed. 

“What did I miss?" Athena came up the loft stairs and made her way over to Bobby and brushed her lips against his. 

“I can’t stay for too long. I have the night shift tonight."

She looked over at Chimney and gave him a look. Who was going to announce it?

Chimney gestured to her to announce it. Hen gave the couple a suspicious look. There was something going on with them.

Buck’s lips were twitching. He definitely knew something was up. He was Maddie’s brother, so that made sense that he would know before the rest of the team. But if Buck knew did that mean Eddie also knew? Hen looked over at Eddie. He didn’t look to be paying much attention; he was looking at his phone.

“Chimney and I would like to let you all know that in six months we’ll be adding a new member to the Firefam."

Hen hadn’t been expecting that.

Buck grinned knowingly. “Buck, you knew? And you kept this from me?" Eddie questioned his fiancé. 

“Of course, I knew. What do you think Buckley night was a couple of nights ago? Also not my secret to tell."

Bobby and Athena came over to Maddie and Chimney to congratulate the pair. Their family was growing only to think a couple of years ago it didn’t have as many members. Now Maddie was included, they had also added Eddie and Christopher when Eddie joined the 118. They hadn’t had a new addition quite like this before.

The team celebrated the announcement of the new addition until the firehouse alarm went off not ten minutes later calling them out to their next call.

They all groaned. They didn’t even get to eat anything. Typical.

Chimney kissed Maddie quickly then made his way off to the ambulance. Buck hugged his sister gently then ran after Chimney, but to the truck. Eddie did the same as Buck. Maddie again was left alone in the loft. They had also called Athena out.

Maddie was definitely ready for a nap before her shift that started in a few hours. She would definitely need it.

Maddie needed to now start preparing for a baby. She had no idea where to start. At least she wasn’t alone in this. She had Chimney and the rest of her family and Firefam. They could do this.


	17. Engagement Party/Baby Shower

Maddie was seven months pregnant. She felt overly large. She knew she had a small frame which meant her pregnancy belly showed a bit more. She was tired a lot. She had to cut down on her hours at the call centre.

She hadn’t been all that impressed about it.

She and Chimney had discussed how long she would take for maternity leave. She had to apply for a week ago. Maddie wanted to be able to have as much bonding time with her new baby, but she also wanted to work. She and Chimney came to the decision that she’d take six months off. It was a timeframe that hopefully would work. When it came closer to the time they’d decide where to go from there.

_

Tonight, was supposed to be a BBQ with the 118 family. It was a joint engagement party for Maddie and Chimney and also Buck and Eddie. What Maddie and Chimney didn’t know it was also a baby shower. They didn’t want to plan anything too close to Maddie’s due date. This way they’d be surprised.

Chimney pulled up to Bobby and Athena’s place. Eddie’s truck was already parked in the driveway. Hen’s car was also in the area. There were a few other cars that Maddie didn’t notice.

Chimney hopped out of the car and ran around to the passenger side to help Maddie out. She was fiercely independent, but she still needed help managing a few tasks with her belly being in the way. Not that she didn’t try herself first.

Maddie and Chimney walked together up the driveway with their hands linked.

Maddie could hear laughter coming from inside the house. Maddie knocked on the front door. Eddie pulled the front door open with Christopher at his side.

“Tía Maddie. Tío Chimney." Christopher squealed. He wrapped his arms firmly around her torso. He squeezed her gently. Eddie must have told him before he opened the door to be gentle around her baby bump. 

Maddie froze for a second. Chris had never called her that before. It must have been something nice as Eddie was standing off to the side grinning at the trio.

Maddie must have looked puzzled. She hugged Christopher back then he moved onto Chimney.

Eddie came over and whispered in her ear. “It means Aunt and Uncle in Spanish. Tía and Tío **."**

Maddie’s eyes started watering. Stupid hormones. Even if she didn’t have the hormones raging through her she probably would be crying anyway. Christopher thankfully hadn’t noticed her tears. He had gone off to play with the other kids.

“Maddie you doing alright?" Eddie spoke gently. That had caught the attention of Chimney.

“Hormones?" Chimney questioned.

Eddie whacked Chimney upside the head. “Haven’t you learnt anything? I wouldn’t make comments like that if I were you."

“Thank you, Eddie. At least someone has more than one brain cell." She linked arms with her brother-in-law and made her way into the living area where everyone was waiting, leaving Chimney watching them walk away.

Buck came over to greet her then steal away Eddie.

Chimney came over with a guilty expression. “I’m sorry Maddie. I’ll just keep my mouth shut from now on."

“Why haven’t you given us that option?" Buck teased from across the room.

“Well, I’m not dating you. You’ll just have to deal with it." Chimney retorted.

“You picked the wrong Buckley." Buck grinned sarcastically holding out his arms for Chimney and blew him kisses. Eddie stood watching the exchange with his arms folded rolling his eyes at the two idiots.

“Yeah, not my type there Buckley. A bit too beefy for my taste." Chimney countered.

Everyone was watching the interaction with a morbid fascination.

“Alright, guys break it up. We are actually here for a reason." Athena, Eddie, Hen, and Karen left the room for a few minutes.

“Where did they go off to?" Maddie asked curiously as Buck nudged her gently towards the sofa while Bobby did the same to Chimney.

“It’s a surprise."

“I thought this was a joint engagement party. So why aren’t you and Eddie being surprised?"

“It is. Later. For now, it is something a little different."

“Athena do you need an extra pair of hands?" Buck called across the room as he made his way to the door where the others went through.

“Take this Buckaroo."

Maddie looked up, and she saw her family carrying out gifts in different pastel colours.

“Since you guys aren’t finding out the gender of my niece or nephew. We just used a multitude of colours."

Buck sat down a large box in front of her and Chimney. Eddie put a few smaller gifts on top of the box. Soon there was a pile of gifts in front of them.

“Welcome to your surprise Baby Shower. Slash joint engagement party."

_

Buck had taken notes after each conversation about things Maddie and Chimney still needed to get for the baby. The team and Maddie and Buck’s parents had all pitched in to get the things Maddie and Chimney still needed.

The big purchases such as the crib and the stroller they had all split the cost on so, in the end, it wasn’t even that much per person.

Buck had taken a photo of the crib and stroller Maddie had shown him that she and Chim were interested in, while she had excused herself to go to the bathroom, he had taken the photos and shared them in a separately made group chat that didn’t include Maddie or Chimney.

When Maddie pulled the paper off the box that the crib came in, she burst into tears.

“How did you guys know?" She gushed quietly.

“Maddie, you literally showed me the exact pictures of the things you wanted. I just happened to be paying attention and took photos of everything when you weren’t paying attention and sent them to the group chat."

Buck responded stating a fact. Buck’s tone implied the duh in the sentence. He was so glad they had pulled this all off without them figuring it out.

Luckily, they hadn’t brought this stuff for themselves yet.

They hadn’t been too far off buying the crib. Chimney had mentioned it to Hen the other day, and she put it in the group chat. They were still safe.

“What group chat?" Chimney questioned.

“The one without you in it." Hen scoffed, nudging Chimney.

“You have a group chat without us?" Chimney asked looking a little hurt.

“Yeah, Chim. What did you expect? We actually wanted this to be a surprise." Bobby answered from the kitchen.

_

After Maddie and Chimney had opened all their gifts, everyone settled in for dinner. After the baby shower, the plan was just to have a nice family dinner to celebrate the engagements of Chimney and Maddie, and Buck and Eddie.

They had gotten a cake that had been split in half. One half-read: ‘Congratulations Maddie and Chimney!’. The other side read: ‘Congratulations Buck and Eddie!’

“Why only one cake?" Buck asked, looking curiously at the sheet cake that was placed in front of the two couples.

“We thought it was just easier to get one cake. You’re lucky we didn’t also put ‘Congratulations on Baby Han’," Hen stated.

“Be grateful you even get cake." She continued waving a large knife around.

“Hen. Put the knife down before you hurt someone," Karen commanded calmly, she moved over to Hen and carefully took the knife out of her hand. Karen handed the knife off to Bobby and he started cutting the cake to hand off pieces to the kids.

“The cake you guys got me for my 30th was much better than this," Buck muttered shoving a forkful of cake into his mouth.

“Mi Amor, maybe be a bit more appreciative otherwise next celebration they probably won’t even bother getting you a cake."

Eddie murmured to Buck quietly.

“Yeah Buck, be a bit more appreciative," Hen called from across the room.

“Well, next celebration is our wedding, so we’ll be sorting the cake out. We don’t need their input." 

_

It was getting late. Christopher was on Buck’s lap nodding off. He had tired himself out hanging with the other kids. Denny looked to be falling asleep standing up. Liam and Isaac didn’t look too far off sleep either. Maddie and Chimney had headed off not ten minutes before as Maddie was also falling asleep.

“I think we better call it a night," Eddie stated standing up. Buck followed, adjusting Christopher in his arms so he had a secure hold on him.

Hen and Karen also got up off the couch ready to head off as well.

Buck made his way over to Athena to say goodnight.

Buck wrapped one arm around Athena, keeping the other held on tightly to Christopher so he wouldn’t slip from his grasp.

“Thank you for tonight. I do appreciate everything you do for me." Buck spoke quietly. He pressed a quick kiss to Athena’s cheek. She still scared him a bit. OK maybe a lot, but he did love her.

“Goodnight Buckaroo." She pushed him over to Bobby, who had just bid his goodnights to Eddie, Hen, Karen, Denny, Liam and Isaac.

Harry had already gone up to bed. May was off at college, she wasn’t able to come tonight as she had an overload over assignments to get through.

“Night Bobby. Thank you for tonight it was fun. We definitely needed it."

“Get out of here. I will see you bright and early for work tomorrow. Once you are married, I won’t condone you and Eddie running late. You’ll have to start working on your time management skills." Bobby joked softly, as to not wake up Christopher.

“Whatever you say, Bobby."

Eddie was throwing on his jacket; it was the middle of winter at the moment. Buck made sure Christopher was bundled up, ready to brave the winter air. Buck’s sweater would have to be enough until he got to the car, he wasn’t going to put Chris down just so he could put on a jacket. He’d just make sure Eddie put the heater on in the truck.

They made their final goodbyes of the night and walked down the driveway to the truck. Eddie unlocked it and opened the driver’s side backseat door for Buck to put Christopher in and buckle him in ready for the trip home.

Buck secured the seatbelt around Christopher’s small waist. Buck then made his way to the passenger seat and buckled himself in. Eddie had just started the truck and started adjusting the dials to start the heater.

“Let’s go home."


	18. Baby Han

Buck hadn’t heard from Maddie in a few days. Also, Chimney had started his paternity leave early. Maddie was close to her due date and had spent the last month of her pregnancy exhausted and on best rest. Maddie hadn’t been impressed about that. She told him she didn’t feel up to being sociable. He understood, he didn’t want to get in her way, but it worried him.

He knew that Maddie could handle anything thrown her way, but that doesn’t mean he still couldn’t be worried about her.

Buck had basically been glued to his phone for days waiting to hear something from Maddie, or Chimney. Just to know that Maddie was doing alright.

Eddie had to nudge him a few times to get his attention back on the task at hand. There were definitely times he couldn’t be distracted.

Hen wasn’t taking to Chimney’s cover very well. She definitely wanted Chimney back on the team. She was civil to her temporary partner, as much as she’d let herself.

“I’m sure Maddie is fine. She has probably just been resting. Carrying a baby takes a lot out of a woman. I’m sure they’d let everyone know if anything changed."

Eddie spoke soothingly, trying to calm his fiancé down. They were on a call at the moment. It was a minor car accident. Eddie was using the Jaws to open the car door to get the victim out.

“Come on Eddie, switch." Eddie handed Buck the Jaws, and he continued the job so Eddie could make sure their patient was still doing alright.

They got the man out of the car and transported to the ambulance waiting where Hen and her temporary partner took him to the hospital. A second ambulance had already taken the first victim to the hospital as they were easier to remove from their crumpled vehicle.

Scene clean up didn’t take too long, LAPD was sorting statements over the collision. The vehicles were waiting to be removed from the road, so they could get traffic running as normal.

Bobby called them back to the truck and told them to head out. They had a break right now before they would be called out to their next call.

_

Buck was sitting around at the firehouse dining room table when his phone went off. It was a message from Maddie. There was an image attachment.

_Baby Ivy Claire Han. Born: March 13 th, 6.27 am 6 pounds 6oz. _

The image that was attached was a picture of a baby. Buck stared at the picture his eyes tearing up and his lips started trembling as he realized who he was looking at. He had a niece.

“Buck is everything alright?" Bobby asked worriedly from the kitchen. Hen and Eddie started to make their way over to Buck. Then everyone else’s phones chimed with notifications of a message before anyone could read the message Buck answered Bobby’s question.

“Maddie had the baby," Buck spoke quietly. He couldn’t stop looking at the photo. Ivy was beautiful.

Hang on. March 13th was a couple of days ago.

Then Buck understood, they had wanted time to bond with their new baby before they were ambushed by family. They definitely would be ambushed, everyone just wanted to show their love for the new little family.

Hen pulled out her phone and saw the message from Chimney. “They make beautiful babies."

_

Buck had texted Maddie and asked her if it was alright if he and Eddie stopped around after their shift or in the morning, whatever would suit her, Chimney and Baby Ivy. Buck didn’t want to crowd them too much. He knew that his parents would try their hardest to make it out to meet their new grandchild. They already had plans to come out for Buck and Eddie’s wedding, he wasn’t sure if they’d be able to make it out again before then as plane tickets were expensive.

Maddie had sent a reply right before Buck and Eddie had finished with their shift.

_Come over after shift. We should be able to get a quick visit before she gets fussy._

“We won’t stay long half an hour, maybe. If they need help with any chores, we can offer our assistance. When Christopher was born Shannon and I deeply appreciated any help, we could get. When I wasn’t on tour, that is."

Eddie spoke wrapping his arms around Buck’s waist and giving him a gentle squeeze. Eddie pressed a gentle kiss into the nape of Buck’s neck, then gently let him go. They were headed to the parking lot when they were stopped by Hen.

“You guys headed to see Ivy." She stated instead of questioned.

“Yeah, we are. You and Karen going to stop by at some point in the next couple of days?" Eddie spoke to Hen as the three of them continued on to the parking lot.

“Chimney told us to stop by before lunch tomorrow. Athena and Bobby are heading over tomorrow afternoon."

Maddie and Chimney thought they’d give it a few extra days before the other kids they introduced the other kids to the new baby. Maddie and Chimney needed to settle into having a baby in the house and they didn’t want to overwhelm the new parents, so they decided to have a couple of people visit at a time.

If anything, Maddie and Chim could go for a quick nap while one person tackled some chores while the other held Ivy then they could switch off. That way they weren’t stressing about housework that needed to be done.

Bobby would be cooking a few meals to take over for the couple to put into the freezer, so they didn’t have to cook only just reheat and eat.

_

Eddie pulled up to Maddie and Chimney’s new house that they moved into halfway through Maddie’s pregnancy.

Buck texted Chimney to let him know they were there instead of knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell which more than likely would startle Ivy.

Chimney opened the front door as they were coming up the driveway. He looked tired but joyful. Buck pulled his brother-in-law into a tight hug.

“Congratulations Dad. Is it Dad? Or have you decided on a different title?" Buck joked letting Chimney go. Eddie took his place and gave Chimney a hug.

“Felicidades." Buck heard Eddie speak to Chimney.

“I have no idea what you are saying."

“It means Congratulations Chim, or am I just insulting you when you are sleep deprived." Eddie grinned ribbing Chimney.

“You could literally say anything to me right now and I’d just agree with you."

The trio walked into the house and made their way to the living room where Maddie was sitting cradling Ivy in her arms, singing softly to her. She looked up and smiled at her brother and Eddie.

“Hi, guys." She greeted gently, easing herself off the couch.

“Maddie you can stay seated. We can just as easily come to you." Eddie tried to get Maddie to sit back down.

“Well, I need to go to the bathroom, so Buck hold your niece while I go have some much-needed me-time. Maybe I’ll even have a shower."

Maddie moved over to Buck handing Ivy over and gently placed her into Buck’s waiting arms.

Buck fell in love immediately. Christopher was the only other child he fell this quickly for. She was so tiny lying there in his large arms. He hadn’t noticed Eddie taking photos of Buck being mesmerized by Ivy, he couldn’t look away she had captivated him.

“Buck looks like he’ll steal her away from you Chimney." Eddie teased nudging Chimney. Chimney collapsed onto the couch.

“I need a nap." He groaned.

“Then go have one. Nothing is stopping you. Even if it is a ten-minute nap, we can watch Ivy." Eddie started shoving Chimney towards the stairs.

“Tell Maddie she is more than welcome to have a quick nap. Buck and I can handle Ivy for a bit while you have a bit of a break."

Chimney made his way up the stairs, stopping to tell Maddie she could have a quick nap after her shower.

Buck paced around the living room rocking Ivy in his arms. She hadn’t stirred yet, which was a plus. Eddie was watching him from the couch.

“What?" Buck muttered shyly.

“Holding a baby is a good look for you."

Buck heard Maddie exit the bathroom and make her way to her and Chim’s bedroom to take a quick nap.

After a few minutes, Buck handed Ivy over to Eddie so he could have a turn at holding their niece.

Buck made his way into the kitchen and started doing a quick tidy up of the dishes that were left in the sink. He then made his way to the laundry room and put on a load of washing that was waiting in a hamper in front of the washing machine.

Buck walked back into the lounge and watched Eddie talking to Ivy in Spanish. Buck was slowly picking up on Spanish, he didn’t know a lot. It was mostly terms of endearment he could pick up on. He heard Eddie tell Ivy she was a beautiful little girl, something about protecting her, there were also a few things about family there.

Buck already knew Eddie was attractive to him when he would interact with Christopher but watching Eddie with Ivy was an interesting experience. Buck had never really seen Eddie with a newborn baby before.

“Would you ever want to do this again?" Buck whispered. As the words came out of his mouth, he realized how badly he wanted a baby with Eddie, one that was theirs. Christopher was theirs of course, but Buck wanted a chance to be able to raise a baby with Eddie from the beginning.

Eddie’s head snapped up in surprise. Eddie looked speechless; he wasn’t expecting Buck would want that with him.

“What?" Eddie muttered, shocked; he had been thinking about adding to their family for a while but didn’t know if Buck wanted the same thing. He thought Buck was happy with their little family.

“I mean if it’s not something you want; I am happy with you and Christopher how we are, but I thought maybe it would be something we could look into."

“That would definitely be something I’d be interested in. I have been thinking about it for a long time."

“We’re actually going to do this?" Buck asked quietly, walking over and sitting next to Eddie on the sofa.

Eddie looked down at Ivy then back up at Buck.

“Definitely."

_

Maddie and Chimney ended up having a twenty-minute nap. Buck had already taken the first load of washing out of the machine and put it into the dryer then put on another load.

Chimney came down the stairs first.

“How has Ivy been?" Chimney looked a lot more refreshed after his quick nap.

“Hasn’t made a fuss at all," Eddie responded he went to hand Ivy over to Chimney.

“You can keep holding her. I want a coffee first." Chimney went to head to the kitchen.

“I’ll do it Chimney. Sit down, relax while you can." Buck held off Chimney, then Buck turned to the kitchen to make Chimney a coffee.

“When did Buck get this helpful?" Chimney jested, leaning back on the couch and closed his eyes.

Maddie came down the stairs. She sat down next to Eddie. “Has she been like this the whole time?" Maddie muttered she leaned her head against her soon to be brother in law’s shoulder watching her newborn daughter intently.

“Barely made a sound. Except for little snuffling sounds and little squeaks. She has been content the whole time." Eddie rocked Ivy gently.

“When can you move in?" Chimney demanded Eddie.

“My fiancé, not yours Chim. Back off." Buck growled teasingly. Buck handed Chimney his coffee.

“What would you like Mads?" Buck turned to his sister, who was still resting her head against Eddie’s shoulder.

“Do I have to tell you to back off, too?" Buck stated to Maddie sarcastically.

_

Buck put the last load of washing in the dryer. He and Eddie would head off in a few minutes to let Maddie and Chimney settle in for the evening.

Buck sat in the lounge folding the first load of dry washing while Maddie fed Ivy. It didn’t faze Buck that his sister was breastfeeding in front of him. He couldn’t understand how some people were so offended by it. He had helped deliver children before, breastfeeding doesn’t faze him after everything he has seen with his job.

He watched Maddie peacefully feed her daughter, stroking a finger down her rosy cheek as she fed.

Eddie was cooking a quick meal for Maddie and Chimney. Eddie had to be able to cook for himself and Christopher, he was expanding his horizons on what he could make. Eddie had learnt to make a lot of quick tasty meals. Since Christopher was a picky eater.

He was making a large batch for them to throw a few extra portions into their freezer; he knew Bobby was bringing a few meals tomorrow to help fill up their freezer. Eddie just wanted to get them sorted to start, with something quick, easy and healthy.

_

After Ivy had been fed, Buck had a quick last-minute cuddle before him, and Eddie headed off. He had finished folding the washing. The last load hadn’t finished in the dryer yet. 

“We better head off _Mi Amor."_ Eddie had finished cooking dinner for Maddie and Chim. He had portioned it up and set it aside to be put into the freezer.

Buck gently handed over Ivy to Maddie, then stood up to follow Eddie to the front door.

Maddie and Chimney followed them out to see them off. Maddie readjusted her hold on Ivy and gave her brother a one-armed hug. She did the same to Eddie.

“Good luck with your visitors tomorrow. Hopefully, it isn’t too overwhelming." Buck tried for an optimistic tone.

“Whatever baby brother."

“In a couple of months, you have to entertain a tonne of guests at your wedding." Chimney laughed.

“But they are people we personally invited. There is no one going that we don’t know. Hopefully."

Buck trailed off, looking to Eddie for confirmation on his statement.

“95% of people we should. Well, we should know everyone as we invited them. Hopefully, my parents haven’t invited extra people." Eddie muttered walking to the truck.

“What do you mean hopefully your parents haven’t invited extra people? It is our wedding. Not theirs. Eddie. Babe. Seriously, what are you saying?" Buck trailed off after Eddie back to Eddie’s truck.

Maddie looked over at Chimney.

“Hopefully their wedding goes off without a hitch." Chimney looked over at Maddie, he was looking unsure on how to react to that.

Hopefully.


	19. The Buckley-Diaz Wedding Day Before

It was the day before the Buckley-Diaz wedding, most people were running around like headless chickens. It seemed like the only ones who were calm and not at all stressed were the grooms. They were more relaxed than everyone else; everyone it seemed was stressing out for them.

Buck was having cuddles with Christopher and Ivy. Christopher was so enamoured with her. Chris was cuddled up next to Buck while Buck held Ivy. She had grown a lot. She was two months old today. Everyone around her adored her. Buck and Maddie’s parents were overeager to come and finally meet her. They hadn’t been able to come out and meet her until now.

They had all but demanded to be sent photos and videos almost daily of her growing up. They would video chat with Maddie and Chimney weekly to get updates in her development. They were excited to finally meet her, maybe more so than being there for Buck and Eddie’s wedding.

Buck and Eddie knew they were kidding about that. They finally had a new grandchild. They had been spoiling Christopher as much as they could. Well, as much as Eddie and Buck would let them.

Once they had found out Maddie was pregnant with Ivy, they had been stocking up on baby items. They had also helped pitch in for the stroller and crib, but they had brought so much. Knowing them they were bringing a lot of the stuff with them on their flight. 

It was the 13th of May today; the wedding was tomorrow. It had taken a few discussions on where they wanted to have the wedding. They thought about having it at the 118 but decided it would be too much of a hassle to get it all sorted. They would need the station house for other teams. They wouldn’t have been able to swing it.

They had worked on the wedding planning together when they had the time. They tried to do as much of it themselves as they could. They had a few minor arguments about what they had wanted. It wasn’t anything serious, but with some things they had wanted something different. They had to compromise on a few things.

The one thing they both agreed on was the guest list. They didn’t want a massive wedding. Eddie’s extended family made up a majority of the guest list. Buck would have just been happy if they had the wedding with the parents, Chris, and the 118 family. But they had to add in a few extra people. Abuela had to be there, which meant Pepa and her husband had to be there. Then Eddie’s sisters and their families had to be there as well.

They finally cut the list to 60 people. That was it. They didn’t want to have too many people there that they barely knew.

They also had to get a few people to help with a couple of things they had gotten stuck on during wedding planning.

They had found a venue to hire for weddings and receptions. The venue had a gorgeous Tuscan style to it. The house had separate wings where the wedding parties could get ready. They would hold the wedding reception behind the house in one of the courtyards that overlooked a forest. There was a gazebo on a deck overlooking the forest below. The chairs for the ceremony would be laid out in rows facing the gazebo.

The gazebo in question was a mix of dark wood with white trim. 

It was one of the venues that wasn’t exorbitantly priced.

They had been on a guided tour of the property with the venue’s project manager; she had been showing them around the venue explaining about the history of the property. When they ran into one of the owners of the property.

She recognized the two of them as the firefighters that had rescued her and her husband from a car wreck; it had been not long after Buck and Eddie had started dating.

The older woman Violet took over the guided tour herself. Dismissing the other woman.

Violet kept thanking Buck and Eddie profusely for rescuing her and her husband. She was grateful to them both and the rest of their team. She and her husband would now have many more years together, with how efficiently the 118 worked together. Buck kept her and her husband calm while Eddie started to get Violet out of the car first as her injuries were a bit more serious than her husband’s.

Violet took them out into the courtyard and then down the forest paths, where they ran into her husband Harry.

Harry saw the trio walking towards him and recognized the two men with her as the firefighters from the accident he and his wife had gotten into and had to be rescued from.

_He had seen a connection between the pair of firefighters. While Buck had been trying to distract them from Eddie using the Jaws to get them out of the wrecked car, Buck started asking them about what they did for a living._

_Harry described their property which they rent out as a wedding venue and for other events. Harry had bluntly asked Buck if he was getting married anytime soon. Buck blushed and stammered, while Eddie laughed at his boyfriend’s face as he tried to explain to the couple he wasn’t getting married, yet. He and Eddie had only just started dating. But maybe sometime in the near future._

_

Harry offered the boys the use of the venue at a hugely discounted rate if they were interested. He said that he was thankful for them saving him and his wife. Life was too short after their accident a year and a half ago. They now spent a lot of their time travelling and spending time with their children and grandchildren. They also loved helping couples have their dream wedding days, which is why they wanted to open the venue in the first place to spread the love and joy of weddings.

They had many more years to keep on living because of them, this was one way they could repay them.

Buck and Eddie tried to refuse the discounted rate. They would pay the full price of the venue. Harry and Violet wouldn’t have it. It was their venue they could do whatever they pleased with it. They wanted to be able to show the firefighters their appreciation. If the rest of the 118 just happened to be at the wedding that was a plus as well and they’d get to thank them as well.

They ended up booking the venue. They begrudgingly took the discounted rate. Harry and Violet wouldn’t let them leave until they had agreed to their terms.

_

The reception would be held at the other end of the house in a separate courtyard, to get to that courtyard there was a pathway that led through to the other end of the property that led to another courtyard. That one had a larger space able to fit tables and chairs, leaving enough room for a dancefloor.

They decorated the path leading to the courtyard in tangling, climbing ivy along the cream brick walls. There were old-style lanterns drilled into the brick walls, helping guide the guests to different sections of the venue. Luckily, they weren’t oil lamps; they were firefighters they didn’t want to have to put out a fire on their wedding day.

Buck and Eddie had visited the venue a couple of times after they that set their wedding date. They didn’t want a too extravagant wedding; they wanted to have something memorable. The Tuscan styled home and forest garden had been something that had caught both their eyes. They had kept coming back to view it so they could lay out the wedding to give themselves an idea of what it would look like all setup. 

The venue was large enough to hold all their guests. The property was available for small intimate ceremonies. The max capacity size was 150 guests.

Buck and Eddie had nowhere near that amount. It was nice to see that Violet and Harry catered to more intimate weddings. They didn’t understand why people needed large, extravagant weddings.

Eddie and Buck had done their wedding cake tasting a month ago, they wouldn’t have been forgiven if they didn’t take Christopher with them. They hadn’t wanted a massive cake; they wanted a cake big enough just to feed their guests; it had turned out a little bigger than they were expecting.

They had picked their tuxes separately. Maddie had gone with him as had Bobby. Eddie had Chimney and Christopher with him.

_

_A day had finally come up where Buck, Bobby, and Maddie all had the same time off to go tux shopping and fitting for Buck. Maddie was still on Maternity Leave, but Chimney had Ivy for the hopefully only a few hours they were out. Maddie had left Chimney enough milk to get through that time plus a bit extra. He should be fine on his own for a few hours._

_They went to the first suit and tux shop they could find in the area. Buck really didn’t have a huge idea of what he wanted; he only knew that he wanted a Navy Blue on some part of the suit. He wasn’t the biggest fan of shopping, he just wanted to get this over and done with quickly._

_But this was his suit for his and Eddie’s wedding day, he had to at least put some thought into it. He couldn’t just pick one and say, ‘Let’s just pick that one and then we can be done here’. He couldn’t just pick any random suit He had to put a bit more thought in it than that._

_“What were you thinking?" Bobby was shuffling through the racks while Maddie was watching Buck critically._

_“I don’t really know. Something that has some Navy blue in it. I haven’t really thought about it. Eddie has always said he liked how navy blue made my eyes stand out." Buck trailed off softly._

_Buck ended up trying on a few different suits. According to his sister, he looked horrible in almost all of them. That really didn’t help his confidence._

_“Yeah. No. Change."_

_“Definitely not that colour."_

_“What are you wearing?"_

_“Where did you even find that?"_

_“Maybe not a light grey."_

_“God no that is awful."_

_They ended up deciding to flag that store and go to another. That one they had a bit more luck in. They started off by putting him in a black tuxedo with a bow tie. It looked nice, but he wasn’t too sure about it._

_“I don’t know. It’s nice, but maybe not something as extravagant as that for your wedding day."_

_“How about I try this one on?"_

_He saw a four-piece suit that looked alright._

_Maddie looked at it critically. Bobby hadn’t said much. He had let Maddie take over critiquing Buck trying on each suit._

_“Go on then. Try it on. What’s one more?"_

_He ended up taking it to the changing room and trying it on. The suit was a dark charcoal grey, with a Navy-blue vest and tie. He had brought along with him his nice shiny dress shoes; he would have to get a new pair for the wedding. The pair he had brought with him went with his dress uniform. He should probably keep those with his dress uniform for when he needs them._

_He stepped out of the changing room to show his sister and Bobby._

_“What do you think of this one?" Buck knew the routine by now, spin to show them the full 360 view of the suit._

_“It looks so much better on," Maddie croaked. Buck looked alarmed. Maddie waved him off, dabbing her eyes with a tissue._

_“Hormones."_

_Bobby looked like a proud father._

_“I think this is the one kid."_

___

_Eddie had been trying to get out to go tux shopping with Chimney and Christopher. There wasn’t a lot of time they had free. It seemed Buck had already found his a few days before. It had already been sent away to be tailored._

_Maddie had been overly critical of how each suit looked on Buck. Buck had grumbled to him after he had gotten back from shopping with Maddie and Bobby._

_They still had just over two months until their wedding, but Eddie wanted to get it sorted so it was one less thing to worry about leading up to the wedding._

_Finally, they had found a time to go where Eddie and Chimney were free for a few hours. They had gone to pick up Christopher from Carla’s place and set off looking for Eddie’s tux/suit. Whatever he ended up deciding on._

_They tried the first couple of stores they came to, Eddie wasn’t having much luck. They came to store number three._

_“I don’t know Eddie. What exactly are you looking for?" Chimney eyed Eddie warily. Eddie was wearing a white suit with a red tie._

_“What exactly made you pick that one?"_

_“Daddy it doesn’t look right."_

_“How about this one Dad?"_

_“Maybe? The colour needs to be different. The colour looks off?"_

_Christopher helped Eddie find a couple of suits, but the one Eddie ended up deciding on Chimney had found it._

_It was a black four-piece suit, with a black button-up shirt, a dark red vest and a dark red tie and a dark red pocket square._

_Eddie stepped out from the changing room._

_“I think this is the one."_

_Eddie adjusted the cuffs and straightened out the fabric._

_“What do you think Bud?" Eddie turned to his son._

_“Buck will love it."_

_“Looking smart there Eddie. You’ll make Buck swoon." Chimney joked._

_Eddie decided to get the suit. It was the best one he had tried on. They took his measurements and pinned the suit, pants, and vest where it needed to be adjusted._

_They had a bit of time left, so they started looking for a suit for Christopher since he was going to be his Best Man. They needed to find him a nice suit for the wedding._

_They tried to find him something similar to Eddie’s; they were just skipping on the vest as it would probably be too much for Christopher._

_At least they found one for Chris quicker than they had for Eddie as Christopher was getting bored suit shopping. He looked like he would have a meltdown soon if they didn’t get out of there when they did._

___

There had been a lot of discussion on who they wanted to have standing up with them. Eddie asked Buck if he would be offended if Eddie asked Chris to stand up alongside him.

“Oh, I was going to ask Maddie, anyway."

Buck would have Maddie standing up with him and Eddie would have Christopher.

They were going to go the traditional route and just get Maddie and Christopher to sign the wedding certificate, but they wanted to be able to include more of their family in the ceremony.

They thought long and hard on who they wanted to be witnesses to sign the wedding certificate with them. They hadn’t asked them yet; they would wait until after the ceremony. They had decided to ask Bobby and Athena.

Usually you would have the Best Man and Maid Of Honour or in this case Best Woman sign the wedding certificate. But they wanted to ask Bobby and Athena who had been their biggest supports from the very beginning.

Bobby had been supportive of the couple right from the start, he was the reason they met and made it as far as they had. Athena, no matter how terrifying she was, Buck loved her like a mother.

Now Buck had three Moms and three Dads. He definitely had an interesting family dynamic.

They would announce it right before the signing of the certificate.

Buck had been worried that his Mom and Dad would be offended about their choice. Eddie had called them up separately and made Buck talk it through with them. They had both told him the same thing it was their wedding they could run it however they wanted. It wasn’t about what other people wanted; it was about them and no one else.

Buck also had another hard decision to make. He was torn. They had wanted their parents to walk each of them down the aisle. Buck didn’t want to offend Noah and Caroline. His Mom had called him a dumbass and told him the same thing she told him before, it is your wedding, do it how you want it. Sure, they may be a little upset, but they will understand.

Buck ended up having an in-depth conversation with both Noah and Caroline about it. He said how much he loved them, and he didn’t want to hurt them in any way, but he wanted his Mom and Dad to walk him down the aisle.

They understood where he had been coming from. They were a little hurt, but in the end, they would be there for the wedding day anyway, so it wasn’t like they weren’t invited. They wouldn’t be missing much. They’d be seated in the front row with Evelyn and Elijah after they had led Buck to the gazebo altar, Bobby and Athena, Ramon and Helena after they had walked Eddie down the aisle.

They decided not to do sides for the guests to be seated on either side of the aisle. People could sit wherever they wanted as long as it was not the front rows. They had a weird large blended family. The wedding wasn’t about choosing sides; it was about Buck and Eddie showing their family that they love each other and wanting to share it with them.

_

Ivy started whimpering in Buck’s arms.

“Hey Sweet Girl. Shall we go find your Mom." Buck got up off the couch and carried Ivy over to where Maddie was standing in the kitchen going over last-minute details with Eddie about tomorrow.

“Someone wants their Mom." Ivy hadn’t started full-on crying thankfully. She just wanted to be in her mother’s arms.

Buck gently handed Ivy over to Maddie.

Ivy had black hair like Chimney with Maddie’s light brown eyes. She looked a lot like Maddie with a few features like the shape of her eyes to her forehead were all Chimney.

Christopher ended up following him to the kitchen to see what the fuss was about.

They were waiting around for Bobby to bring his parents over from the airport. Evelyn, Elijah, Caroline, and Noah were staying with Buck here at Buck and Eddie’s place, while Eddie and Christopher would stay with Bobby and Athena. They had a spare room that he and Christopher could share for one night. Buck and Eddie weren’t allowed to see each other until they saw each other for the first time at the altar.

_

Once Buck’s parents had arrived, there were hugs and tears. There were definitely extra tears when they met their newest grandchild for the first time.

“Mom!" Buck threw his arms around his Mom and squeezed her tightly. It had been eight months since they last saw each other in person. They had video called, but that wasn’t the same.

“My baby is getting married." Maddie walked into the foyer with Ivy. It didn’t take long for his Mom to forget his existence.

Evelyn wrapped Maddie in her arms then was handed Ivy so she could finally meet her for the first time.

“Well, that didn’t take long for me to be forgotten." Buck joked to his Dad.

Buck was pulled into a tight hug by Elijah. “I can’t believe this day has finally arrived." Elijah murmured into Buck’s ear.

“Well, technically it hasn’t arrived yet. The wedding is tomorrow."

“You know what I mean." Elijah grumbled jokingly. Elijah watched Buck interact with Caroline. Buck looked so joyful. He doesn’t think he had ever seen his son this happy. Evan looked so excited to be getting married tomorrow.

“How are we feeling Eddie?" Elijah made his way over to where Eddie was standing watching Buck greet their family.

“Excited!" Eddie grinned. "I can’t wait to marry him."

“It is about time don’t you think. I think we’ve all been waiting for this day for a long time." Elijah nudged Eddie.

Eddie mumbled something under his breath about ‘took me long enough’.

“Well, we got here now that is the main thing."

_

“Noah! It is so good to see you." Buck wrapped his arms around his stepfather’s shoulders.

“Evan. Who ever thought we’d see the day, that our sweet little Evan is finally getting married. I still remember you as that sweet little boy the day I first met you."

“I wasn’t sweet." Buck grumbled jokingly.

“Yes, you were baby. You are always going to be my sweet little boy now matter how old you get. Don’t take that away from us now."

“Whatever you say Mom."

_

“Caroline! How’s it going other mother?" Buck bounded over to where Caroline was standing. Caroline pulled a face.

“Yeah, I won’t call you that again. We’ll just forget I ever said that."

“Are you excited, Honey?" Caroline wrapped her arms around Buck’s waist and hugged her stepson tightly. She let go and cupped his cheeks. She brushed her fingers against his birthmark.

“I can’t wait to marry him. I can’t believe that after everything that has happened between us over the years that I actually get to marry him."

“We were all so excited when you called us telling us that Eddie had finally proposed. We had been expecting it long before then."

“He and Christopher are all I have ever wanted. I never knew how much I needed them until they came crashing into my life."

_

Eddie’s family was extensive. Most of their guest list comprised Eddie’s family. There were quite a few family members that Buck hadn’t met before, he wouldn’t get a chance to properly meet them until after the ceremony tomorrow.

Eddie’s parents were staying at Isabel’s place. Their plane wouldn’t be getting in for another hour. Eddie’s sisters and their families were arriving first thing tomorrow morning. His cousins were already hanging out in LA, they had made their own plans. They just had to make sure they made it to the venue on time.

_

Before dinner, Maddie shoved Eddie and Christopher out the front door.

“Time to go boys. You’ll see Evan tomorrow at the altar."

Buck ran after them to say goodnight to his fiancé, the next time they’d see each other they’d be pledging themselves to each other and becoming husbands.

“I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow at the altar." Buck kissed Eddie softly wrapping his arms around Eddie’s waist. Buck let go then crouched down in front of Christopher, wrapping him up in a tight hug.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Superman. I love you lots."

Buck turned around and walked back to the front door. Buck couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

He was getting married tomorrow.


	20. Wedding Day

Buck woke up alone in his and Eddie’s bed. His brain hadn’t completely clicked yet that the reason Eddie wasn’t in bed with him because as they were getting married today and had to sleep separately.

Buck lay in bed grinning when he realized today was the day, he and Eddie were getting married.

His door creaked opened and in stepped his Mom.

“Hey." His voice broke with residual sleep.

Evelyn crawled into bed next to him and pulled him into her arms. She hadn’t done this in years.

“You excited Baby?" Evelyn murmured softly, running her fingers through Buck’s hair.

For the wedding he had let his hair grow out a little. He had a few curls sitting atop his head.

After the wedding, Buck would cut his hair back to his normal style as it was much easier to manage.

“Very excited. A little nervous I think.”

The wedding ceremony was set to start at 3 pm. They had to head over at 11 to make sure everything was set up. Well, Buck wasn’t allowed to explore the venue before the ceremony. Buck had to stay in his wing just in case Eddie saw him. Maddie would be in the room with him while they waited. To make sure Buck wouldn't sneak out and go to see Eddie.

“What time is it?" Buck mumbled. He was still tired. He had to wake up before they left. They wanted him fully alert.

“Just after 9. We let you sleep in. Maddie is downstairs."

Buck lay in bed with his Mom for a few more minutes enjoying the peace before all the excitement of today hit him.

Buck dragged himself out of bed for a shower and to make sure his stubble wasn’t too patchy.

_

Breakfast was already laid out for him once he came into the room.

The house was a large single-storey house. That was one of Buck and Eddie’s requirements when they had found this house. They needed to make it accessible for Christopher to get to all parts of the house without a struggle. He could manage stairs, but not too many. They decided against looking into multi storey homes for that reason alone.

“Morning."

Buck sat down at the dining room table with his parents and Maddie. Evelyn was holding Ivy; they wouldn’t get to see their grandchildren as often as they wanted, so they were making the most of this trip.

They sat around the table chatting while they all had breakfast.

They would start heading over to the venue soon, they wanted to leave early to make sure they wouldn’t get stuck in traffic.

He had gotten a message from Bobby this morning saying his suit was all set for him in the room he was getting ready in. Buck had made sure that Bobby had remembered to put the right suit into each room, they didn’t want there to be a mix up right before the wedding.

Bobby ended up sending Buck a picture of his suit in the dress bag hanging up on a hook. 

It was the right suit thankfully. Buck sent through his gratitude to Bobby. 

_

They piled into two cars. Maddie, Ivy and Buck in one car and Evelyn, Noah, Elijah and Caroline in the other.

The drive wasn’t too long. It took them just over an hour to get there. Buck couldn’t really tell you exactly where they were, it was a large home that didn’t have any neighbours, from the road you could see the forest trees peeking over the top of the house.

“I’ll go make sure it is safe for you to come in."

“Oh, come on Maddie. Seriously?" Buck whined flopping into his seat in the car.

He was waiting a few minutes before Maddie came back out.

“Eddie was just going to his side of the house. We just had to wait until he had gone in."

Buck rolled his eyes at his sister. He pulled himself out of the car; he grabbed his bag of things he needed for the day and followed his sister towards the house.

_

Buck and Maddie had run into Harry and Violet on the way to Buck’s dressing room.

“Mr. Buckley. The day has finally arrived!" Violet bounded over to Buck and Maddie excitedly.

“You can call me Buck or Evan if you prefer. When you say Mr. Buckley, I always think people are talking to my Dad and not me. Well, he is actually Dr. Buckley. I don’t think he ever really gets called Mr. Buckley..." Buck rambled. 

“Ok Evan. We just wanted to come over and say congratulations before your ceremony starts. We’ve already seen your fiancé and your captain Bobby. You all look handsome as always."

_

There weren’t many people here yet. The caterers were coming in an hour to set up. Everything was in place, or so Buck was told. Buck wouldn’t know as Maddie wouldn’t let him go check.

Bobby and Chimney were downstairs helping with setting up the chairs. They would get ready after they finished setting up. They had others out there helping, but they just wanted to help pitch in where they could. They had already been here a couple of hours setting up with Violet and Harry.

For now, it was just him, Maddie and Ivy in the room. Buck was holding Ivy while Maddie did her hair and makeup.

They still had a couple of hours until the ceremony itself, Buck was just waiting around in his street clothes until an hour before.

_

The wedding photographer came into the room to get photos of Buck getting ready for the ceremony.

Buck put his engagement ring onto a sturdy silver chain, Maddie helped him clasp it around his neck. It sat close to his heart.

There was a knock on the door and in piled Evelyn and Elijah.

Buck had just put on his suit trousers. He was shirtless for the moment and just picked up his dress shirt when the knock on the door came.

“We can come back." Elijah trailed off hesitantly.

“Don’t even worry about it." Buck slipped on the white button-up shirt and started doing up the buttons.

The photographer was snapping pictures as Buck put each part of his suit on.

His Mom came over and helped him with his tie.

He pulled on the vest and did up the four buttons. Finally, slipping on the suit jacket.

“My beautiful baby. It is almost time. Are you getting excited?"

“Very." Buck breathed. He had butterflies fluttering around. He was excited but a little bit nervous. He definitely wasn’t nervous about marrying Eddie. That was the easy part. He didn’t want to trip up in front of all those people.

Elijah came over with the boutonnière to pin to his lapel.

They just ended up deciding on a simple white rose and some greenery for the boutonnière.

Maddie walked over with a small tub of gel, he leant down and Maddie started fiddling with his hair setting it into place with a small amount of the gel. She arranged his curls, so they lay tidily on his head.

“There you are all set and ready to finally marry Eddie. Why did it take you guys this long exactly?" Maddie teased her brother gently.

“No idea. I literally would have married Eddie the day we started dating if you all wouldn’t have killed us."

“Yeah, Yeah. Whatever. We are finally here now. Let’s get you married, shall we?"

Maddie had her hair up in a loose updo that lay at the base of her neck.

Buck had no idea what Eddie would be wearing, they had kept it a secret from each other. Bobby had been holding onto both outfits for the couple after they had picked them up from the tailors.

Maddie had just gone off to slip into her dress. It was a floor-length Navy-Blue dress with little thin lace off the shoulder sleeves.

She had to get the dress taken up due to her height. It now only just passed her ankles in the shoes she was wearing. Buck had let Maddie decide what she wanted to wear, he just told her to pick something in Navy Blue.

_

Eddie was changing on the other side of the house to Buck.

He had seen Maddie today; she made him quickly come into this room so she could bring Buck inside the venue without him seeing.

He had a quick conversation with Harry and Violet. They expressed their blessings and best wishes for his and Buck’s wedding day. They were such a sweet couple. He and Buck had been grateful to them for the venue. They still wouldn’t accept the full rates for hiring out the venue. No matter how much Buck and Eddie tried to talk them into just letting them pay the full amount.

The photographer had just come from taking photos of Buck getting ready.

Eddie was helping Christopher change into his suit and red tie. For the wedding, Christopher was using a red pair of crutches to go with his tie and match with Eddie.

Eddie zipped open the dress bag and pulled out his suit and vest.

He quickly changed into the trousers, afterwards pulling his shirt off and pulling on the red button-up shirt.

His Mom and Dad came into the room. His Dad came and helped him with his tie.

“I’m terrible at tying ties. You’ll have to get your Dad to help." His Mom was adjusting Christopher’s hair.

He could hear the shutter of the camera taking photos of him pulling on his vest over the shirt.

Finally, the suit jacket and the boutonnière went on. There were only 10 minutes until the ceremony. Eddie was getting bouncy. He was excited, he just wanted to go out there and get married to Buck.

Eddie gave Christopher, Buck’s wedding band to hold on to.

They had chosen their wedding bands together. Buck’s ring was mostly silver with a couple of black strips of tungsten on either side of the silver strip at the centre. His ring would be mostly black tungsten with thin silver lines near the edge of the band.

His Mom came over and started straightening out the fabric of his suit jacket.

“We ready for this Mijo?" She spoke softly.

“Absolutely."

There was a knock on the door and in came Bobby.

“Ceremony is about to start. Ramon, Helena if you want to take Eddie and start getting in position. Christopher let’s go get Maddie."

Bobby and Christopher left the room, not before double-checking that he still had Buck’s wedding band.

They made their way down the stairs and stood off to the side waiting to head into the courtyard to walk down the aisle together.

“You nervous?" His Dad questioned softly.

“A little, mostly excited." Eddie grinned at his parents.

_

The guests were being seated in the chairs that had been laid out in front of the gazebo. Hen, Karen, Denny, Liam and Isaac were seated in the second row next to Chimney he was holding Ivy. Hopefully, she wouldn’t cry during the ceremony. She had just been fed so she should sleep through it. Carla was seated next to them. Eddie’s cousins were seated on the other side of the aisle in the second row Rosa and her girlfriend Jocelyn, Marco, and Miguel. Next to them was Michael Grant and Josh who Buck had met through Abby then properly got to know through Maddie.

The rest of the 118 was sat a couple of rows back.

Bobby and Athena sat in the front row with Buck and Maddie’s stepparents Noah and Caroline. Ramon and Helena would join them after they walked Eddie down the aisle. Followed by Elijah and Evelyn once they had walked Buck to Eddie.

The other seats were full of Eddie’s sisters and their partners as well as all their children. There were Gabriela and Sebastiàn’s girls Camila and Emilia who were sixteen and thirteen, respectively. Sofia and Raphael’s two boys and their daughter: Lucas, Antonio, and Juliana at the ages of fifteen, ten and thirteen. Finally, his third oldest sister’s Mariana and Javier’s children one girl and one boy: Kiara and Leo at the ages of twelve and nine. There were also Eddie’s other cousins Adriana and Maria and his Abuela and Tía Pepa and her husband Nicolàs.

Soft music had played everyone stood and watched as Eddie walked down the aisle with his parents on his arms.

Hen watched Eddie’s face, she doesn’t think she had ever seen him this happy before and he hadn’t even seen Buck yet.

Buck and Eddie’s celebrant was waiting for the couple inside the gazebo.

Eddie stopped outside the gazebo and turned to his parents hugging them. They walked to their seats and stood to watch Christopher and Maddie walk down the aisle.

_

Buck was waiting at the top of the stairs waiting to come down. Eddie had just started his walk with his parents down the aisle. Maddie made him turn around so he couldn’t see Eddie.

Maddie helped Christopher down the stairs.

“Love you, Papa." Christopher blew him a kiss and slowly started walking down the stairs with Maddie’s assistance.

Buck watched as Maddie and Christopher walked out the backdoors and start walking down the aisle.

“Ready?”

They waited 30 seconds then started walking down the stairs. Buck linked arms with his Dad first and then his Mom.

Buck started to get nervous. He wasn’t scared, he was just nervous about tripping in front of everyone.

Buck looked down the aisle and all he saw was Eddie waiting for him. He couldn’t focus on anything else.

_

Eddie watched Maddie and Christopher walk down the aisle and stood on their respective sides outside the gazebo.

Eddie’s attention went straight to the end of the aisle where Buck was walking towards him.

He looked radiant to Eddie.

Buck was grinning at him. Eddie couldn’t help the tears that had come to his eyes. Hopefully, he’d be able to hold off on sobbing until after the ceremony.

Evelyn and Elijah handed Buck off to him and walked to their seats. Everyone was told they could be seated. Buck and Eddie turned towards each other and linked hands.

Their celebrant Kelsey started their wedding off. They didn’t want a too long ceremony. The kids would start to get bored. Also, there was a two-month-old baby on the guest list that could cry at any moment.

She turned to Eddie and asked him to state his intent to marry Buck.

“Edmundo Anthony Diaz, do you take Evan James Buckley to be your lawful wedded Husband to love to honour and to cherish as long as you both shall live and beyond?"

Eddie grinned at Buck. “I do."

“Evan James Buckley, do you take Edmundo Anthony Diaz to be your lawful wedded Husband to love to honour and to cherish as long as you both shall live and beyond?"

Buck’s lips trembled, he bit his lip and spoke strongly. “I absolutely do."

“Eddie, if you’d like to say your vows to Evan."

Eddie looked into Buck’s eyes. The Navy-Blue of the vest and tie brought out his eyes.

“Evan. I wasn’t expecting to meet someone like you, who consumed me completely. There wasn’t a day that went by that you weren’t on my mind. Even when you were having that temper tantrum over me encroaching on your space. I realized that I had started to fall for you from the very beginning. It just took me a bit longer to accept that my feelings for you were stronger than just friendship. The day Christopher first joined us at the station, I knew you’d be special to us. I just didn’t realize how much at the time. You barely knew me, but you made sure that Christopher was accepted wholeheartedly. We've been through so much together, I don't want to spend another day without you by my side. I promise to always have your back in everything that we do, not just at work. I will always love you and love how much you love our son."

A lone tear had slipped down Buck’s cheek. Eddie used their linked hands to wipe away the tear.

“Evan."

Buck cleared his throat and squeezed Eddie’s hands.

“Eddie. I won’t call you Edmundo. Oh, wait I just did," He grinned cheekily. Eddie rolled his eyes at Buck’s antics.

“Eddie. You were right. I was a bit stubborn the day we met. I didn’t realize at the time that I had felt an instant connection to you and didn’t know how to handle it. I handled it the only way I knew how: to be a tad standoffish. It didn’t help us at all. You grew on me, and I never want to let you go. I started to realize my feelings for you that first Christmas where we took Chris to go see Santa. She was right. We do have an adorable son. I don’t know a time when I didn’t love you, I have always felt this way, I just hadn’t realized the feeling for what it was until then. We don’t say it often enough, but you show me in little ways how much you love me. I love you and Christopher, and I’ll make sure to show you and our son every day."

Eddie’s eyes teared up. None had fallen yet, but who knew when that would change.

Their celebrant Kelsey asked them to join hands.

“These are the hands of your best friend, that are holding yours on your wedding day. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These are the hands that when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours." Kelsey recited to the two men.

It was time for them to exchange rings.

Eddie grabbed Buck’s left hand in his own, Christopher handed him Buck’s wedding band. He placed the ring at the top of Buck’s finger.

“Evan, I give you this ring as a symbol of my everlasting love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you." Eddie slipped the ring down Buck’s finger then placed a gentle kiss to his hand.

Buck turned to Maddie to take Eddie’s ring from her. He turned back to Eddie and lifted his left hand in his own and placed the ring hovering over his left ring finger.

“Eddie, I give you this ring as a symbol of my eternal love and devotion to you. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you." Buck pushed the ring down Eddie’s finger. He squeezed his hands.

“It is now my great honour and delight to declare you Husband and Husband. You may now seal your vows with a kiss."

Buck brought his hands to Eddie’s face and brought their lips together in a sweet, passionate kiss. They pulled apart and smiled joyfully at each other laughing.

“If you could all wait patiently for a moment, we just need to sign the wedding certificate. Bobby. Athena, the grooms would like for you both to sign as witnesses to this marriage. It would mean a lot to them; in their words, you have been their greatest cheerleaders and support over the years at the 118 even when they felt lost and needed guidance. You had been there to lend the supportive shoulder they needed to get through it. When they couldn’t lean on each other."

Buck and Eddie looked over to where Bobby and Athena were seated, Bobby looked surprised, but he stood up anyway pulling Athena with him. She had a few tear tracks on her cheeks. They made their way over to the signing table and waited for Buck and Eddie to sign first. Eddie was handed the pen first, and he signed the certificate with a flourish.

Eddie handed the pen over to Buck and he signed his name where he was directed to. The photographer took a photo of the two men together holding the pen, looking as if they were about to sign the certificate.

Buck handed the pen off to Athena. She brought him into a tight hug then bent down to sign her name on the first witness line. Bobby took the pen after hugging both Buck and Eddie. He signed his name next to Athena’s. Kelsey was the last person to sign showing that she had overseen the ceremony and it was official. She just had to turn in the certificate for the county clerk’s office to process the marriage.

Bobby and Athena made their way back to their seats after signing the wedding certificate.

The photographer had been snapping photographs throughout the ceremony.

There was one point he had moved around to the back of the gazebo to take the photo of the first kiss between the husbands to also include their friends and family in the shot.

Kelsey then turned to their guests who were seated watching the signing of the certificate.

“I am pleased to introduce you to the new Edmundo and Evan Buckley-Diaz."

Their guests stood up from their seats and clapped, cheered. Chimney let out a few whistles.

Buck and Eddie joined hands and started to make their way down the aisle with Maddie and Christopher following close behind.

They were finally married.

Time to get the celebrations started. They were going to be ambushed.


	21. Can We Get This Over With Already?

As soon as Buck and Eddie made it down the aisle, Christopher had run, well moved as quickly as he could full force into Buck’s legs. Buck lifted him into his arms and hugged his son tightly. Maddie had wrapped Eddie into a massive hug.

“I can officially call you my brother-in-law now." Maddie teased, playfully shoving Eddie.

Ramon and Helena walked over to the newlyweds. Buck had only met them a few times in the past several years he had known Eddie. They were lovely people, they just made him a little nervous.

“Evan. Congratulations Mijo. Finally, a Diaz." Helena brought her son-in-law into a gentle hug then cupped his face in her hands. Eddie had wandered off to greet their other guests.

“Helena didn’t you hear. It’s Buckley-Diaz." Ramon pulled Buck out of Helena’s grasp and into his own.

He stood talking to them for a couple of minutes until Eddie's sisters pulled away him.

Buck mingled with Eddie’s sisters. Buck had never met them properly before. They were great women they were definitely protective of their baby brother.

“Guess that makes you the baby of the family now Evan." Gabriela, Eddie’s oldest sister chuckled giving Buck a one-armed hug.

“It isn’t you anymore Mariana." Sofia continued enthusiastically, taking her older sisters place hugging her new brother-in-law.

Mariana gave him a side hug while she talked to her sisters. 

Buck was then tackled into a hug by Hen. “Buckaroo! Congratulations. It was about bloody time you guys tied the knot." Buck was used to Hen’s ribbing. They had been betting on Buck and Eddie for a long time. It had just been a playful wager on when they would end up getting together. It was all in good fun.

“Nice going with Athena and Bobby being witnesses. They were quite emotional during the ceremony, I think you broke them a little more after that."

Buck was watching Eddie from across the courtyard, he was chatting with Buck’s parents. From the look on Hen’s face, he could tell he had a sappy look on his own.

“You two are sickeningly adorable." Hen playfully put her hand over her heart.

_

Buck was called over by the photographer, he wanted to get the group photos on the way. He wanted to start with the grooms with the Buckley family. They called Maddie over as well as Elijah, Evelyn, Noah, and Caroline. Eddie had to be dragged away from what appeared to be a riveting conversation with his cousin Rosa and her girlfriend Jocelyn.

Buck was taking photos with his parents, then his Dad and Caroline, then just his Dad. These photos seemed to go on forever. They moved onto Buck and Caroline next. Next, they moved onto photos with Evelyn and Noah, to just him and his Mom to Buck and Noah.

It was a warm day; Buck was getting a little uncomfortable in all his layers. He couldn’t take his jacket off yet; he still had a tonne of pictures to take.

They called over Bobby and Athena to take photos with Buck and Eddie. Buck then let Eddie walk away for now while he took his photos with Bobby and Athena. Buck next took photos with them individually.

Buck was going to get sick of having his photo taken by the end of this. He still had wedding photos with just him and Eddie to take after this. 

After the photos with the Buckley family and Bobby and Athena, there were the photos with the Diaz family, that took a while to arrange. The kids were getting restless having to stand around waiting for the pictures to be taken. Finally, after what felt like an hour, they managed to get a few decent shots where everyone was looking presentable.

They took a few quick photos of all the children. Christopher held onto Ivy long enough to get a group photo, then Chimney quickly but gently took Ivy from his arms.

The kids except for Christopher could finally go off and explore. Christopher had to stick around for a couple more photos.

He took photos individually with each of his Dads. Afterwards they took photos of the three of them together. They were some of Buck’s favourite photos to take. Eddie could tell Christopher was edging to go hang out with his cousins.

“Go on then. Please don’t get your suit dirty." Eddie doesn’t think Chris heard him with how quickly he was chasing after his cousins.

Buck and Eddie were taking photos with their siblings. “We are surrounded by girls,” Buck muttered to Eddie as all of them got into position for the photograph to be taken.

Eddie and his sisters had to get their photos taken, they then quickly moved onto the individual ones. They would playfully pick on their baby brother, then take a serious happy photo. Must have been what their childhood was like always pretending not to pick on their baby brother.

Buck and Maddie quickly did their photos together, she had to go off and feed Ivy. Man, she moved quickly in her high heels. Buck saw her go over to Chimney and take their daughter from his arms and move inside the house.

Eddie was taking photos with his parents; Buck watched his husband interact with his family. He was laughing and joking with them in Spanish. Eddie didn’t really speak in Spanish much at home, Buck could listen to him speak in Spanish all day didn’t matter what he was saying. Even if he didn’t fully know what he was saying.

They called the 118 team over. Bobby, Buck, Chimney, Eddie, Hen, Martin, Sam and Charlie and David. There were also a few other members that Buck didn’t work with a much, he only knew them by their last names: Matthews, Williams, Davis, Harris, and Powell. They were mostly on different shifts, so they didn’t see each other a lot.

He then found out their names were Dylan Matthews, Owen Williams, Jackson Harris and Ezra Powell. They were mostly on a different shift, but sometimes they overlapped with them.

They then wanted to take an original 118 group photo. Buck kissed his husband then playfully shoved him away.

“Sorry Babe, you aren’t an original 118 member." Hen snorted then they sort of dogpiled onto Buck. Not quite crushing him but it was a tight group hug photograph. Buck tried to shove them off, but it was no use.

Buck and Eddie were dragged off for the wedding photos with just the two of them, these photos felt really awkward to take. They were directed to take romantic photos, they always just ended up laughing in each other’s faces. There were maybe one or two frames of each shot that were useable. The other frames Buck definitely wanted to keep it as it showed them laughing and enjoying each other’s company no matter how dorky they felt.

There were some beautiful forest paths they would walk down, and the photographer would follow behind them taking some candid photos of them holding hands and walking along.

Their photographer got them to sit together on a set of steps and stare into each other’s eyes. Buck cracked first and started giggling, which made Eddie break. Hopefully, Daniel was getting some good useable photographs out of the two of them.

There was an archway just up ahead that had some railings, Daniel wanted Buck to sit on the edge of it and Eddie stand in front of him. Buck wrapped his arms around him and lay their heads together.

Walking back, they managed to get some nice serious photographs of them with their foreheads pressed together, staring into each other’s eyes. It was such a weird angle that felt a bit dorky. How did wedding photos manage to look so good? They looked so romantic, but while you are trying to actually take those romantic photos you just end up feeling a bit stupid.

“Is it just me or do we look really stupid right now?" Buck muttered while his forehead was pressed against Eddie’s. That was it, Eddie had cracked.

Daniel ended up deciding that, for now, they had enough photos. They’d try again a bit later. They started to make their way back to the house where the rest of their guests were mingling. They had been gone for over an hour; it was nearing the time where everyone was being seated in the courtyard where the reception was being held. Buck and Eddie had to wait to be introduced by their MC of the night.

It had taken them a while to decide on who they wanted to run their reception. They had to pick someone who knew them well and wouldn’t embarrass them too much.

They had a few choices, but they ended up choosing Hen. Fingers crossed she wouldn’t embarrass them that much. They still had to face their families and their speeches.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t be embarrassed too much.


	22. Speeches, Embarrassing Buck and Eddie

They made their way to the edge of the courtyard where the reception was being held. Hen came out to meet them.

“You ready for me to tell all your embarrassing stories?" Hen laughed looking between the two men.

Maddie and Christopher came towards them. Christopher was Eddie’s Best Man and Maddie was Buck’s Best Woman, it sounded a bit better than Maid of Honour. Maddie wasn’t a maid in her words.

Hen was going to introduce Maddie and Christopher first before introducing them.

Hen made her way over to the podium to start the wedding reception. She talked about how long it took them, (she called Buck and Eddie dumbasses) to get their act together and finally put everyone out of their misery.

“Introducing their respective Best People: Christopher Diaz, I think he wanted those two to get together more than we did in the end. We all had enough of their pining," Christopher started to make his way over to the bridal table and sat down.

“Then we have Buck’s best woman, his lovely sister Maddie Buckley who wanted to hit him over the head a few times and yell at him that his love for Eddie wasn’t unrequited, but no, we had to let them figure it out for themselves. Bobby, it took them three years to get together and that was without our intervention. We all suffered. Anyway, Maddie Buckley."

Maddie rolled her eyes playfully at her brother then followed the path Chris had taken to the table. She sat at the opposite end of the table. She would end up sitting next to Buck, and Eddie to Christopher.

“We’re we really that bad?" Buck whispered quickly.

“Looks like we were according to Hen."

Hen started her speech to introduce Buck and Eddie.

“When I met Buck all those years ago, I didn’t know what to think. We have definitely underestimated him over the years. I think we’ve learnt more from him than he has from all of us. To start with we all thought Buck was a bit childish. He was emotionally mature sure, but he was a lot more impulsive than he is now."

Buck knew he wasn’t his best self when he first started at the 118. He had definitely needed to grow up. He would always be grateful to Abby for helping him start the process of growing into a better person he and everyone else could be proud of.

She just left his life too soon. He knew now that she wasn’t supposed to be in his life forever. She had just been a steppingstone to help him be the best man for Eddie and Christopher.

He needed to get in contact with her to finally get the closure they both needed. Buck had let her go a long time ago. He was so in love with Eddie and he couldn’t imagine his life without him, but he needed to talk to Abby one last time for finally put his past behind him.

“Over the years before these two had started dating we were giving them little pushes in the direction of each other. There had even been a time where I gave them a massive shove and it flew right over both their heads. Bobby told us off a lot for not leaving them alone. He kept saying we needed to let them work it out on their own. Well, Bobby it took them over three bloody years to get together. I know now that they needed that time to grow together before they were both fully ready to commit fully to one another. I mean they were already co-parenting Christopher. I think we all realized it before they did. Watching them together you couldn’t help but see the chemistry between the two of them, which is why the bets started a week after Eddie started at the station. I better bring Buck and Eddie out here before they get too impatient and walk over before I am ready. Me along with everyone here today I’m sure, I am ecstatic to introduce you all to the newly married Edmundo and Evan Buckley-Diaz."

Eddie clasped Buck’s hand and wove their fingers together and walked over to the table and sat down.

“Before we get into it. We do have a pool for the money that was raised with the bets we made about these two idiots. We decided to just leave the money in the pool as we knew what we wanted to do with it. We just didn’t think it would take this long. Buck, Eddie. We all love you so much. But seriously why did it take you this long?"

Buck groaned under his breath, of course, they had a pool. Buck and Eddie knew about the first bet but none of the other ones. Seems like they had been invested in their relationship for a long time, since the very beginning.

Hen talked about they had just worked well together from their second day. You barely saw one without the other.

“They seemed to have a deep connection even from the beginning. You never wanted to break up the pair they could always be seen working together. They always worked well together."

“Before I end off my speech. Buck and Eddie with the money from the pool we’ve put together we’re sending you off on a short honeymoon. Since you weren’t planning on one. Why weren't you going to take one? It’s only a few days. You leave tonight and will be back for work, ready to go on Wednesday. Don’t worry about Chris, Karen and I are taking him."

Buck was speechless, they had planned their honeymoon for them. Buck and Eddie were planning to just not go on one and just go back to work on Monday. Buck got up out of his seat and hugged Hen tightly.

“Thank you. But we’re going to have to have a talk about you betting on us." Buck spoke loudly so their guests could hear through the speakers.

Eddie took Buck’s place with hugging Hen. “Buck does have a point you know. Don’t you have better things to do than bet on us." Eddie joked. They made their way back to their seats.

“Right anyway. Before we get onto dinner, we have a few people ready to embarrass the grooms. Starting off let’s go with Maddie. Come on Maddie come embarrass your baby brother."

Maddie laughed; she kissed her brother on the cheek. “Sorry about this." She muttered into his ear and walked over to the small podium.

"Right most of you already know me by now, but I’m Maddie, Buck’s older sister. His only sibling. It had been a few years since I had seen Buck. We decided we needed to catch up a lot more and decided that we started doing what we call Buckley Nights. One night about a year before Buck and Eddie had started dating, Buck came over with tubs of ice cream in tears."

Buck realized where she was going with this story. “Maddie no come on. No one needs to hear this story!"

“Too bad Buck I am telling it anyway. I’m sure your husband hasn’t heard this story." Buck sunk down into his chair and lay his head on the table in front of him.

“As I was saying Buck was in tears. He took his time in telling me what was actually going on. He had been shoving spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth with tears running down his cheeks. I was getting worried at this point, something terrible must have happened for him to be this upset. But no, turns out he had come to terms that he was in love with Eddie and didn’t know what to do with himself. He was almost inconsolable. I don't know how you kept it to yourself for so long before Eddie asked you on a date. Basically, I just ended up hitting him upside the head called him a dumbass and said congratulations you are one of the last people to know."

Buck face had flamed. Why did Maddie have to tell them that story. He groaned into the table.

Finally, Buck had just broken down and cried to his sister about being in love with Eddie. His therapist Greg had definitely helped him after that evening. Greg had helped him sort out his emotions in the aftermath of his breakdown to Maddie. 

He definitely needed to do a big workout after indulging in all that ice cream.

“But no. I love you, Evan, after everything we’ve been through together these last four years. Thank you for convincing me to stay in Los Angeles. Eddie thank you for taking Buck off my family’s hands. There are no returns. You can’t give him back. To Eddie and Evan."

Buck came over and pulled his sister into a bear hug.

“Why did you have to tell that story? No one needed to hear that."

“I had no idea you were that heartbroken about realizing you were in love with me." Eddie joked pressing a kiss to his husband’s red cheek.

Eddie joined in the hug they ended up carrying her back to her seat and dropping her off.

“Thank you, Maddie, for giving Chimney and I some interesting blackmail material. Next up shall we have Captain Dad come up and talk about our boys."

Bobby dragged himself out of his chair and made his way over to Hen.

“Captain Dad? Really Hen?" Bobby muttered laughing.

“Well, you are Buck’s third Dad and our Captain."

“How original. Do you actually call me that behind my back?" He asked his whole team.

“Yes!" They all muttered in agreement.

“Come up with a better nickname. What was wrong with Cap’?" Bobby didn’t mind either nickname he just wanted to rib his team that all ended up turning out to be his extra kids. Buck more than any of them.

“What do I even say about this pair of dumbasses. Watching you each grow as people has been a wild ride. Buck, when you first started at the 118, I didn’t know what to think of you. You were a brilliant firefighter. You just needed some guidance. I hope I helped guide you to where you needed to be. Eddie. You were the missing piece of our team. You helped Buck grow and I actually think he helped you grow, too. I think I knew from the beginning that you were meant to be together. It was just going to take you time to get there. You should have asked for help to get that extra push towards each other. I mean to be honest, we all have zero braincells at work. I've always wanted to know where do all our braincells go once we get to the station? We have all made stupid mistakes in the past where we should have thought them through a lot more. We should just learn to ask for help once in a while, or just talk about everything. But it turns out we all aren’t very smart."

Bobby was right they had one or no brain cells at the firehouse it is like all their other brain cells just up and left once they got to work. They had all done really stupid things in the past. It wasn’t just Buck that was the impulsive one. They all were, they had no excuses for it at all.

“When I had finally convinced Eddie to join our team, I just knew that he was perfect for Buck. Turns out Buck didn’t take to Eddie very well at first. I hadn’t realized where I had gone wrong. Until Hen just happened to mention Buck was interested, He just happened to be Peacocking."

Buck’s face flamed, yet again. Of course, they would bring that up. It was true though. Buck did feel an instant connection to Eddie, but Buck was not having any of it. He was a bit of a jackass at first.

He does admit that he was peacocking a little by showing off his muscles in the gym.

“Watching these two grow together has been a privilege. I know we tease you a lot. We just do it because we love you and just want you to be happy. Hopefully, we can keep you at the 118 for many more years to come. To Buck and Eddie. Please don’t tarnish the firehouse."

“Oh, come on Bobby we are not that bad," Eddie complained to Bobby after giving his captain a hug.

“Exactly. We are not that bad."

Hen called up Buck’s parents to give a quick speech. She had noticed the kids were getting a bit restless. Christopher was trying to wait patiently till the end of the speeches, but she could tell he was getting a little bored.

Evelyn started talking to Eddie first. “Eddie, I’ll never forget the day my son started talking about you and Christopher. He wouldn’t shut up about you both. I thought he was already dating you from how he was talking about you. It ended up taking you both three years to get together. I ended up screaming down the phone at Evan when he finally told me that you both were dating. Bobby thank you for introducing them. We owe a lot to you."

Evelyn went onto reminiscing about Evan growing up. 

“I’d always hoped that he’d find someone like you who would love and accept him for who he was. For that I thank you. To Eddie and Evan."

“I won’t ramble on too much." Elijah started speaking after Evelyn had finished up her speech.

“We’re finally here. I’ve married off one child now I have to marry off the other one. At least that one shouldn’t be too far down the track. Isn’t that right Chimney?"

“Dad what the hell?!" Maddie yelled.

“I’m just kidding. Sort of. Evan, I am so proud of how far you have come over the years. Watching you grow has been a joy. You actually picked a husband that your mother and I tolerate."

His Dad had stopped talking. Was he going to continue? Buck looked over at Eddie. Eddie looked a little confused.

“Tough crowd… Eddie, we love you. We don’t just tolerate you. To Evan and Eddie may your life be filled with joy."

“Finally, we have a couple of quick speeches from Helena and Ramon before dinner will be served. Just a few more minutes guys."

“Evan, first of all, we’d like to welcome you officially to our family, even though we have found out that Abuela and Pepa adopted you unofficially years ago."

Buck let out a laugh. It was true. They kept trying to feed him. After his accident, they kept trying to feed him. They had helped him put some weight back on after he lost quite a bit. With everything with the lawsuit, he didn’t get to see them much.

They definitely made up for it after the fact.

“You have made our Edmundo so happy and it is the same with Christopher. Thank you for putting us all out of our misery and marrying our son."

“He’s the one that asked, actually. I would have asked myself, he just happened to beat me to it with the help of Christopher."

They had never told anyone how Eddie had proposed. They felt it would just stay between the three of them.

Ramon laughed. “Of course, he did. Did he tell you how long he had the ring for?"

“Papà no." Eddie tried to cut off his Dad.

“Uh no. He didn’t tell me that. Do I want to know? Actually, you know what. Tell me anyway. Ramon. How long was it exactly?"

It was Eddie’s turn to be embarrassed it seemed. Even though the situation wasn’t even that embarrassing.

“November 1st, 2018," Eddie muttered softly.

“I’m sorry Eddie not everyone heard that can you speak up." His father teased him.

“November 1st, 2018."

Wow, Buck was stunned. It was that long ago? That was almost two years before they actually got together. He had been holding onto the ring for that long? 

They actually could have gotten to this point a long time ago if either of them had gotten the nerve to ask out the other. They had many opportunities over the years.

Ramon and Helena quickly finished their speech and made their way back to their seats. Dinner was about to be served. They ended hiring caterers to save the family the stress of making enough food for 60 people.

With the invitations, they had sent out a card sheet where people could mark off what they wanted. They included a kid’s selection as the children were a bit pickier. There was a mix of meats, meat alternatives, salads and sides to choose from.

The plates were brought out to the bridal table first, then everyone else was served. Buck was leaning against Eddie while they ate. Eddie had to help Christopher cut his food into manageable pieces so he wouldn’t get his suit dirty.

“Fingers crossed I don’t get anything on my suit. That would suck for pictures later."

_

After dinner, it was apparently supposed to be the couple's first dance.

“Buck, Eddie are you ready to show us your moves with your first dance?" Hen was back at the microphone.

“Um about that. We couldn’t really decide on a song. We went through so many songs that it was actually getting ridiculous. Um that was the one thing we hadn’t made a decision on. If you want us to dance, you’ll have to pick the song."

Eddie looked at Hen sheepishly. She rolled her eyes and went over to the DJ where his gear was set up and told him to pick a song for them to dance to.

“Here you go, boys. Here is some Florida Georgia Line. Some Country music for your Texan husband."

The opening chords to ‘H.O.L.Y’ started to ring out through the speakers. Eddie pulled Buck onto the dancefloor and they started to slowly dance along to the music, they ended up dancing for the entire song, they were just so lost in each other that they didn’t notice that they had been dancing for over three minutes.

What broke them out of their bubble was the transition to the next song. It just happened to be ‘Islands in the Stream’ their guests starting to join them on the dancefloor.

That song didn’t bring up the best memories. Maddie and Chimney seemed to be having a great time with the song.

Buck stopped dancing and didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Are you ok?" Eddie whispered into his husband’s ear.

“This song doesn’t bring up the most pleasant memories. I was a bit of an idiot before we got together." Eddie clicked what Buck was talking about.

“Ahh right. We’ll just start dancing with everyone on the next song." Buck wrapped his arms around Eddie from behind and rest their heads together. They were watching their families dance together on the dancefloor. Christopher had gone off with his cousins somewhere.

Once the music changed, they joined the rest of their guests on the dancefloor; they ended up being pulled away from each.

They always found each other in the end.

_

Hen was back at the microphone ready to announce that they were about to cut their wedding cake.

“Buck, Eddie it is time for you to cut your wedding cake. Then dessert will be served. Dancing may continue afterwards."

Buck and Eddie walked over to the table where their wedding cake was set up. It was a small three-tiered cake that had olive leaves draped over it and placed on top.

They were brought over a large sharp knife to cut the cake. Buck stood behind Eddie just off to the side and held the knife out. Eddie wrapped his hand over Buck’s.

Daniel their photographer was snapping photos of them looking at each other.

“Don’t cut yourselves, please. We really don’t want an incident today even though we are well equipped with a bunch of firefighters here."

Hen called out from the podium.

Buck started to put pressure on the knife and Eddie pressed down on it with him and they gently cut into the chocolate cake covered in white chocolate ganache.

Buck kissed his husband’s lips, turning back to the cake he cut a small piece and fed Eddie a little bit. He thought it would be too messy to shove it into Eddie’s face. Eddie did not get that memo and shoved the cake into Buck’s face.

“Thanks, Babe. I was kind enough to not do it to you but alright."

_

It was coming to the end of the evening. Hen was announcing their send-off. Their family had packed their bags for them. Who knows what they ended up packing for them?

Their team ended up organizing a Bed and Breakfast for them to say at for a few days. Their car would take them straight there from the venue.

They made their way to the front of the venue where their car was waiting for them.

They said goodbyes and thank yous to their guests leaving Christopher till last.

“Bye Superman. See you in a few days." Buck brushed his lips against the top of Christopher’s head.

“Goodnight Mijo. Be good for Hen and Karen."

Buck and Eddie hopped into the back of the car.

“We all set?" The man seated in the driver’s seat asked.

“All set."

They waved to their family, and the car set off down the road.

“I love you." Eddie murmured softly into Buck’s ear.

“I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter will be up this afternoon


	23. Epilogue

It had been eight months since Buck and Eddie had gotten married. They had many discussions on how they wanted to go about giving themselves another child. It wasn’t like either of them could give birth to a baby.

Eddie suggested of asking Maddie if she would consider carrying their baby.

A few months ago, Maddie and Chimney had gotten married in a small intimate ceremony that was about half the size of Buck and Eddie’s. Buck had stood up with Maddie and Hen had stood up with Chimney.

They held the wedding at their own home in their garden. Since it was only immediate family and the 118 family that were included in the wedding. It wasn’t as done up as Buck and Eddie’s wedding.

Buck cried a lot that day.

Ivy was now ten months old and thriving.

Buck felt a bit awkward asking his sister if she would consider being their surrogate. He explained to her that they wanted a child with both their DNA, for them to create a child together was biologically impossible. Their closest option would be having Maddie’s egg and Eddie’s sperm. In a lab Buck would kill his sister if she slept with Eddie. 

They weren’t expecting a response right away. They gave Maddie time to go off and talk it over with Chimney. In the end, it was her body so she could make the decisions about it. They wouldn’t be offended if she said no. They would just explore other options if Maddie didn’t want to do it.

It had taken a few days for Maddie to get back to them.

“Hi, guys." She and Chimney walked into Buck and Eddie’s home and sat down in the lounge. Ivy was playing on the floor with a few toys that Buck and Eddie kept around the house for her.

“I’ve thought about this long and hard. I wanted to give you an answer immediately, but you gave me the time to think it over which I did. I’ll carry your baby for you. Whatever you need."

Buck burst into tears. He hugged his sister tightly and sobbed into her neck. Eddie sat watching the pair with a tear rolling down his cheek.

“Buck move over it is my turn." Eddie gently shoved his husband out of the way and hugged his sister-in-law and thanked her profusely.

_

Maddie had to give herself a lot of injections over the next couple of weeks on top of all the tests they had to run. They would harvest multiple eggs to fertilize in a lab with Eddie’s sperm then be implanted into Maddie. 

The implantation was set for mid-March. Buck spent the last month spoiling his sister. She wasn’t handling the extra hormones that well on top of looking after a year-old baby, but she fought through it.

It came the day where they were implanting the embryos into Maddie.

They had come to an executive decision that Eddie and Buck didn’t need to go to that appointment. It was supposed to be Buck’s day off, but he was covering for Chimney so he could take Maddie to the appointment. Athena was watching Ivy for the day since she was also off work.

_

It had been a few weeks since the implantation. Buck was hanging out with Maddie and Ivy for the day. Buck was feeding his niece a bottle when Maddie blurted out that she was late.

Buck was confused for a split second, then he realized what she was talking about.

“Really?"

Ivy had finished her bottle and Buck put her over his shoulder to burp her.

“I brought a few tests with me to take. Maybe you can hold my hand."

“After you take them, you better mean."

Maddie gave Buck a dirty look. She pulled the tests out of her bag and walked towards the bathroom.

Buck’s mind was racing what if it worked? What if it didn’t? They had planned for this, but Buck was freaking out. What had they done? No, they wanted this. They hadn’t come to the decision lightly. They were already raising a child together. They could do this.

Maddie came out of the bathroom to sit with Buck. She gripped onto his hand tightly and just sat there.

“Now what? We just sit here and try to distract ourselves?" Buck muttered to Maddie she shrugged.

“I really hope this has worked for yours and Eddie’s sake."

“Does Chimney know you are late?"

“No, he doesn’t. I thought you and Eddie should know first. Don’t get me wrong it was hard not to tell him. But this isn’t our baby. It is yours and Eddie’s I just happen to be the incubator."

“And apparently the pincushion." Buck mumbled.

“And that, too."

Buck squeezed Maddie’s hand. The alarm on her phone went off. It was time to check.

Buck pulled Maddie off the couch. He carried Ivy to the bathroom with them.

There were four tests sitting on the vanity.

“I’ll look at two and you look at two."

“1, 2, 3." They each flipped over one.

Buck’s had a pink plus sign on it. Maddie’s said pregnant. They flipped over the last two tests and in the end, they ended up with four positive results.

“Oh my god. It worked." Buck breathed. Buck didn’t know how to react much further than that. Maddie started screaming, and that startled Ivy. Buck started to rock her to calm her down.

“Holy shit. It actually worked."

_

Maddie had gone off home for the evening. They were still shocked over how quickly it actually worked. They were thinking they would have to try a few times before it would even stick.

Christopher was at a friend’s house for a sleepover, they were supposed to pick him up in the morning.

Buck was just waiting for Eddie to get home to tell him the news.

How did he even to begin to tell him that it had worked? Maddie had left a test for Buck to show Eddie. She had taken the rest with her.

Eddie was supposed to be getting home soon. He had texted him when he was on his way home. He was just picking up dinner for them.

Buck heard Eddie pull into the driveway. Buck had butterflies. He was nervous. He knew Eddie would be happy about it. It was just nerve-wracking to find the words to tell him that it actually had worked.

Eddie came through the front door looking tired.

“Hey, Babe. How was your day?" Buck called out. Eddie put the food in the kitchen then came and snuggled up next to Buck.

“We had some pretty bad calls today." Buck held his husband tighter; he knew how those days went. They stuck with you for days. Sometimes they were hard to let go.

“Well, this might make you feel better." Buck pulled the pregnancy test out of his hoodie pocket.

Eddie looked confused for a second about what Buck was talking about. He then saw what Buck was holding in his hands.

Eddie looked from the test to Buck’s face then back to the test.

“Maddie’s pregnant? We’re having a baby?" Eddie whispered mesmerized.

“It actually worked."

Eddie tackled Buck to the sofa and kissed him enthusiastically.

_

Buck and Eddie had just gone to Maddie’s twelve-week scan. At the time of the implantation, they had implanted three embryos.

They ended up with two babies. One hadn’t implanted properly. They still had two healthy babies still growing. It was still sad to think about what they had lost before it had even begun.

Buck was sitting on the couch staring at the ultrasound.

They were going to tell Christopher about his future siblings today.

They didn’t know how he would react. He was twelve years old. They didn’t know how he’d feel about being an older brother now.

Buck put the ultrasound in his pocket.

Eddie had just gone to pick up Chris from school. They were going to wait to tell him until after he finished his homework. They didn’t want to overwhelm him right after as he got home from school.

Christopher was still the affectionate child that he was from the day Buck had met him. Eddie had worried that as he got older that he’d start pulling away from them. It turns out it was the opposite he still likes to have cuddles on the couch while watching a movie. Cuddling in bed while they read books together. They would take turns reading now.

“Papa!" Chris called as he came barrelling through the front door.

Buck swung Chris into the air then placed him back on the ground. He could still manage to lift him even as Christopher got older.

_

They were sitting in the lounge about to watch a movie when Buck looked over to Eddie who nodded.

“Hey, Superman. Can we talk to you about something for a minute? I promise it is nothing bad."

“Ok..." Christopher trailed off. He looked a little unsure.

“How would you feel about having a couple of siblings?"

Christopher looked confused. Buck pulled the ultrasound out of his pocket and handed it to Christopher for him to look at.

Christopher ran his fingers over the picture of the twins.

Christopher grinned at his Dads and they sat with him and explained what was happening at the moment. That his Tía Maddie was carrying his siblings for them since neither of them had that ability. They explained their reasoning for wanted Maddie to carry their babies. They had wanted a child that had both Buckley and Diaz DNA. Christopher was a smart child they only had to explain what some bits meant.

They were looking forward to the new additions to their little family.

_

The next few days they spent the time telling their families, they were going to leave the 118 till last. Buck's parents were excited about their future grandchildren. Buck explained that Maddie was acting as their surrogate.

“They are due in January so that gives you an excuse to come and see us. Since we are working right up to Maddie’s due date, we won’t have any time off to make the trip to come and see you all."

That was still another six months away but might as well give them fair warning.

Eddie’s family had been thrilled about the new additions. Ramon and Helena had promised to come from El Paso in January after the babies were born. They already had quite a few grandchildren, but new additions to the family were always exciting.

Telling Eddie’s sisters consisted of each of them screaming in excitement about their little brother’s babies.

They now had to tell the 118 that they were expanding the 118 family by a little bit.

_

Buck and Eddie were on shift, they were all seated around the dining room table eating before the alarm went off. Athena decided to join them for lunch that day before she had to head off on her next call.

Eddie and Buck discussed who would make the announcement. It had taken them some time to come to the decision.

They were about to make the announcement to their family seated at the table. Chimney had known for weeks now. Hen wouldn’t be too impressed about Chimney keeping the secret for that long.

“Hey guys, mark your calendars for 18thth January or near about. Eddie and I will be welcoming our newest additions then."

Hen dropped her fork.

“I’m sorry what did you just say?"

Chimney grinned at the pair.

“Finally guys it was hard keeping that to myself."

“Wait, you knew?” Bobby questioned Chimney.

“Of course. Maddie is acting as their surrogate. So, it would be a bit hard for me not to know."

“Congratulations." Athena got up out of her seat to wrap the boys in a tight hug.

“How did Christopher react? It took Denny some time to get used to Liam and Isaac being around all the time. He finally got used to them being around that he pretty much demanded us to adopt them before we even had the chance to bring it up with him."

“He is super excited. He can’t wait to be a big brother. He is excited for his siblings to be born. Finally, he won’t be an only child."

“Wait? Siblings? Plural?"

“We are having twins. Maddie gets to milk us being at her every beck and call throughout the pregnancy. Well we have planned to take turns answering her demands. You are mostly off the hook this time Chim. You may need to take over the spoiling for us if we’re on a call and you’re off work. Or if anything one of us can get Postmates delivered to her or something."

Just like that, the alarm went off signally that they had a call. They ran out to the trucks and went out to their call.

They had finally told everyone. Now it was time to help Maddie through the pregnancy without complaint.

_

It was an early morning on the 1st of January. They were in the middle of a 24-hour shift. New Year’s Day was in full swing. They had rung in the New Year on call. They had been getting continuous calls without any break.

They had a few cases of alcohol poisoning, a few injuries where people were drunk and had jumped off things and hurt themselves. There were a few major injuries that required immediate medical attention. They had just gotten back to the 118 after they had finished at a traffic incident with a drunk driver. The scene was an absolute mess. They had mostly D.O.A’s when they arrived on scene. They one in critical condition, but they had ended up losing too much blood before they could extract them from the vehicle.

_

It was nearing the end of their shift. They had barely had any breaks at all. Buck flopped on the couch and closed his eyes.

“Eddie just take him home. The shifts are going to change over in 10 minutes so just head out."

Eddie pulled his husband up from the couch and dragged him down the stairs towards the locker room. They quickly changed into their civilian clothes and walked out to Buck’s car, halfway through Maddie’s second pregnancy with Buck and Eddie’s twins. Buck traded in his Jeep for a more sensible car. That was a bit more suitable for carrying around three children.

Eddie took the keys from Buck and managed to get them both home safely. As soon as they got to their bedroom, they stripped then flopped into bed.

“Night Babe," Buck mumbled into his pillow.

“Are you saying that to me or your pillow?" Eddie grumbled. He pulled Buck against his chest and closed his eyes. Hopefully, they could at least get five hours of uninterrupted sleep. It wouldn’t be long now until they would both have to be up with the twins to feed them once they were born.

“I’m talking to my pillow, go to sleep."

“Asshole," Eddie muttered affectionately.

_

The sun was streaming through the windows. They had forgotten to close the curtains last night.

Buck looked over at the alarm clock. It was 7 am. They had left work just after 12. They managed to get a pretty decent sleep of just under seven hours.

_

They were sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast. Pepa had just dropped off Christopher on her way to work.

Eddie was going to take Christopher to school while Buck stayed home and did some of the chores that had been neglected.

Buck said goodbye to his boys. He put his headphones on and listened to music while he cleaned. Buck carted the vacuum cleaner throughout the house cleaning each room as he went. By the time he had finished vacuuming Eddie still wasn’t back.

There were dishes from this morning that needed to be loaded into the dishwasher. It was getting full, so he turned it on then moved onto laundry.

He began sorting the clothes into darks, lights, and whites. After doing that he put the first load on. Buck felt arms wrap around his waist.

He jumped, screamed and tore his headphones off.

“Holy shit you scared me."

Eddie held Buck tighter resting his head on Buck’s shoulder.

“Now what do we do?"

“I have a few ideas."

_

Buck and Eddie lay in bed holding each other trying to catch their breath.

“You know what we haven’t finished doing yet?"

“The nursery." The spoke in unison.

_

Buck sat on the floor trying to put together one of the cribs. He was getting frustrated with the stupid instructions that barely explained how to put the thing together. All it really showed were stupid pictures that didn’t help anybody.

“This is fucking stupid." Buck’s project sort of looked a crib it just happened to be missing a few pieces.

“Let me help. Then we’ll work on the other one together.” Buck doesn’t even know why they were putting the cribs together now. The babies would be starting off in bassinets, anyway. Oh, wait that’s why because they didn’t want to put cribs together sleep deprived. That would be a recipe for disaster.

After an hour and a half, they had finally managed to put together the cribs.

He was standing the final crib up, ready to be put into place in the nursery. Eddie had placed the first crib against one of the walls. Eddie moved to the second crib and moved it into position on the other side of the nursery. They had finally finished setting up. They were ready for the babies to arrive. They had the bassinets set up in their room for the first few weeks of the babies’ lives.

Buck then realised he hadn’t finished the laundry from earlier. Eddie had ended up distracting him. He made his way to the laundry room and switched the first load from the washer to the dryer. Then put on a second load of washing.

Buck’s cellphone rang out from his pocket. He just pulled it out and answered it without bothering to look at the caller I.D.

“Hello." Buck rested the phone between his head and shoulder.

“Hey, Buck. It’s Chim. You guys might want to head over to the hospital, it’s time."

Buck dropped his phone then scrambled to pick it back up.

“We’ll be right there."

“You don’t need to rush over it is still going to be a little while."

“That isn’t going to stop us."

Buck hung up the phone.

“Eddie! It’s time!"

“Buck what are you yelling about now?" Eddie walked into the lounge. He had just been taking clothes out of the dryer.

“Maddie is in labour."

Eddie started scrambling. They already had baby bags in both their vehicles along with a duffle bag of clothes and toiletries if they were to need it.

“We’ll take your car."

Buck grabbed the keys and hopped in the driver’s seat. Eddie was calling Carla to let her know what was happening and if she could pick Christopher up from school.

“Don’t even worry about it, Eddie. I’ll have him overnight. I can pick up some clothes and things from the house for him. Go be with Maddie while she brings your beautiful babies into the world."

_

It didn’t take them long to get to maternity. It was 1pm in the afternoon by the time they had arrived at the hospital.

“Hi, we’re here to see Madeline Han."

“You must be the parents of those babies. Maddie told us that she was acting as a surrogate for her brother and his husband. She told us to look for in her words: ‘A Flustered Golden Retriever and his just as flustered husband’. Room 213."

“Why does everyone think I am a Golden Retriever?" Buck grumbled.

Buck and Eddie walked quickly down the hall and to the room where Maddie was. Buck knocked gently on the door then stepped inside to see Maddie pacing around the room.

“You guys got here pretty quickly." Chimney was sitting on a chair scrolling through his phone.

“Of course, we did. We wouldn’t miss this for the world."

“According to her OBGYN she isn’t quite in established labour yet. She is only a couple of centimetres dilated." Chimney informed Buck and Eddie.

Maddie came over and whacked Chimney’s arm.

“My brother doesn’t need to know that dumbass." She groaned through a small contraction.

“Maddie, I have delivered babies before. I have medical training. I think I already know all this stuff. But you are right. I probably don’t really need to know those personal details,"

“Do you need anything?" Eddie asked calmly from a chair in the corner of the room.

“Unless you can knock me out until this thing is over, right now you can’t do anything."

_

As the next few hours progressed, they had been taking turns massaging Maddie’s lower back. They had stepped aside and let Chimney be the one support Maddie while she had a hot shower to help relieve her muscles. That was a bit too intimate for two siblings to be in. Eddie decided he’d keep his comments to himself and wait in the room with Buck, while Maddie showered.

Maddie was progressing. She was six centimetres at the moment. She had been in established labour for 3 hours by this point. But if you asked Maddie how long it had been from when she first started feeling the pains it had been just over eight hours.

Buck was taking Maddie for a walk down the halls while Eddie and Chimney were having a nap while they still could.

“I am so tired. I swear Ivy didn’t take this long."

“Maddie from what you told me not long after you had Ivy, you had been in labour for 16 hours before you had given birth to her. It has only been eight hours with the twins so far."

“Have you guys thought of names yet?" Maddie asked to distract herself from the pain of the contractions.

“We have a few names; we’ll decide once we see them, I think. We are open to suggestions."

_

It was just after two o'clock in the morning. Maddie was tiring even more. The doctor had just come in and told her it was time to push.

Chimney sat behind his wife and held her while her brother and Eddie held her hands and helped pull back her legs so the doctor could deliver the babies.

Maddie spent the next twenty minutes alternating between pushing and resting trying to catch her breath before the next contraction. She had finally gotten the first baby’s head out. The OBGYN was just turning the shoulders so that on the next contraction the first baby should be delivered smoothly.

“Alright Maddie, give us one more good push and the first baby will be out.”

“Don’t you dare look Evan Buckley-Diaz," Maddie growled as she bore down and pushed on the next contraction.

“Wasn’t planning on it." He didn’t want to see his sister’s vagina. It wasn’t on his bucket list.

Maddie screamed with the effort to push baby number one out.

“It’s a boy." The doctor cut the cord, then handed the baby off to the nurse. They quickly delivered the placenta, then got ready for the second baby.

The doctor started probing Maddie’s abdomen checking the second baby’s position. They had to break the waters on baby number two’s placenta to get the next baby moving.

“Maddie give us a few small pushes on the next contraction. We need to see where this baby is at."

They were cleaning off Baby Boy Buckley-Diaz after they weighed him and started testing his APGAR score. Things with baby number two were moving along.

“Alright now we’re getting somewhere."

Baby Girl Buckley-Diaz was born at 2.55 am on January 2nd while her older brother had been born at 2.40 am.

Apparently with the twins she laboured for ten hours from established labour to birth. Maddie had thought it was a lot longer.

Buck was holding their son while Maddie was resting after being cleaned up. Eddie was murmuring to their daughter in his arms. Chimney was watching the new parents bond with their new babies.

Chimney sat next to Maddie and stroked her hair away from her forehead. She was definitely exhausted, she didn’t get a lot of rest while she was labouring, not that she didn’t try.

_

Christopher had stopped by that afternoon after school to meet his new siblings. He adored them; he had wanted to stay longer, but the babies had to go for a few tests to make sure everything was all alright with them.

The team was stopping by for a quick visit after work. It was just Bobby, Athena, Hen and Karen that were stopping by. The rest of the team was already here.

Buck’s parents were taking the next available flights they could get out of their respective states to come and meet their new grandchildren. They wouldn’t be here until late evening so they’d stop in tomorrow morning. They had sent them through pictures of the babies, they just hadn’t announced their names. They’d do it over video chat once the rest of the team arrived.

Buck had fallen asleep with his daughter on his chest. They had such a long day with the tests, the feedings and the diaper changes. They barely had time to stop and feed themselves.

Maddie and the babies were allowed to head home tomorrow. Maddie was edging to see her own baby after being separated from her for so long.

_

There was a quiet knock on the door and Athena, Bobby, Hen, and Karen came into the room.

Buck was sitting in a recliner feeding their second son while Eddie was seated on the arm of the chair feeding their daughter.

“Hi, guys." Eddie spoke at a normal volume. He started burping the little boy after he refused to drink anymore.

“Who do we have here?" Athena asked the boys. They were all dying to know what they had called the twins. The blankets hadn’t given anything away as to the babies’ genders. The babies were wrapped in white blankets with one baby wearing a white hat and the other wearing a grey hat.

Maddie walked into the room slowly with Chimney following close behind. She was holding a tablet showing a group video call with their parents. Even Helena and Ramon were part of the video chat.

“Buck and Eddie are about to announce the names of their children. Even I don’t know what the names are yet, and I gave birth to them. After over ten hours of labour. Or what I thought was thirteen hours of labour but apparently they don’t start the timer until you are in established labour." Maddie muttered jokingly. 

“Eddie is holding Greyson Edward Buckley-Diaz born early this morning at 2.40 am and I’m holding Willow Luna Buckley-Diaz born 15 minutes after her brother at 2.55 am."

“Meet your family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is now finished. Thank you all for your support. I am working on a couple of other stories. Hopefully, I'll start uploading those soon.


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